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Itinerary  of  a  Breakfast 


A  Popular  Account  of  the  Travels  of  a  Breakfast  through 

the  Food  Tube  and  of  the  Ten  Gates  and  Several 

Stations    through    Which  It  Passes,    also 

of     the      Obstacles     Which    It 

Sometimes    Meets. 


BY 


J.  H.  Kello^^,  M.  D. 

Medical  Director  of  the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium 


The  Modem  Medicine  PublisKin^  Co. 

BATTLE  CREEK.  MICHIGAN 
1918 


Copyright 
1918 


PREFACE. 

Modern  medical  research  has  clearly  in- 
criminated the  colon  as  the  source  of  more  dis- 
ease and  physical  suffering  than  any  other  or- 
gan of  the  body. 

The  artificial  conditions  of  civilized  life, 
sedentary  habits,  concentrated  foodstuffs,  false 
modesty,  ignorance  and  neglect  of  bodily 
needs,  have  produced  a  crippled  state  of  the 
colon  as  an  almost  universal  condition  among 
civilized  men  and  women. 

Intestinal  toxemia  or  autointoxication  is 
the  most  universal  of  all  maladies,  and  the 
source  of  autointoxication  is  the  colon  with  its 
seething  mass  of  putrefying  food  residues. 

A  very  special  purpose  in  the  mind  of  the 
author  in  the  preparation  of  this  little  volume 
has  been  to  combat  some  of  the  mischievous  er- 
rors which  are  everywhere  current  in  relation 
to  the  hygiene  of  the  colon,  especially  with  ref- 
erence to  the  sufficiency  of  one  daily  evacua- 
tion of  the  food  residues.     It  seems  to  the 


4  PREFACE 

author  that  no  one  can  review  the  facts  here 
set  forth  without  being  convinced  that  food 
residues  and  wastes  should  be  evacuated  at 
least  three  times  a  day,  or  after  each  meal. 

In  the  chapters,  "The  Ten  Gates,"  "The 
House-broken  Colon"  and  "The  Crippled 
Colon,"  new  facts  brought  forward  by  modern 
research  and  discovery  are  grouped  together  in 
a  new  way  which  it  is  hoped  the  reader  will 
find  interesting  as  well  as  informing. 

The  call  for  information  on  the  vital  ques- 
tion of  "waste  disposal"  is  steadily  increasing. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  additional  light  which  it  is 
believed  this  volume  sheds  upon  this  subject 
will  prove  of  interest  and  practical  value  to 
every  careful  reader. 

Practical  assistance  will  be  found  in  the 
author's  works,  "Colon  Hygiene,"  "Autoin- 
toxication," and  various  other  works  on  food 
and  diet  issued  by  the  publishers  of  this  work 
as  well  as  in  the  monthly  columns  of  ''Good 
Health/'  1 


Table  of  Contents 


PAGE 

The  Food  Tube 9 

Food  the  Natural  Laxative 13 

Stations  along  the   road 14 

Food   principles    15 

The  Five  Food  Laboratories 18 

The  Mouth   18 

The  Stomach    20 

The  Intestines    20 

The  Liver  21 

The  Waste  Disposal  System 22 

The  Colon   23 

The  Normal  Intestinal  Rhythm 23 

Three  Daily  Evacuations 23 

The  Food  Residues 29 

The  Digestive  Time  Table 30 

Rhythmic  Activity 30 

Rate  of  Movement 31 

Nature's  Plan  32 

Food  Excites  Peristalsis 34 

Diagram  of  the  Food  Tube,  and  Digestive  Time  Table.  .  37 

The  Ten  Gates 38 

Entrance  Gate — the  Mouth 40 

Inspector's  Gate — the  Soft  Palate 43 

Food  and  Water  Gate 49 

The  Stomach  Gate 53 

The  Bowel  Gate — the  Pylorus 54 

The  Food  Control  Gate — the  Ileocecal  Sphincter 61 

The  Colon  Gate — the  Ileocecal  Valve 62 

The  Reversing  Gate 66 

The  Discharging  or  Ejector  Gate — the  Pelvic  Colon..  68 
The  Exit  Gate — the  Anus 70 


6  CONTENTS 

rAOK 

The  House-Broken  Colon 71 

Normal  Bowel  Action 72 

Hindrances  to  Normal  Bowel  Action 75 

The   Sitting   Posture 75 

Weak  Abdominal  Muscles 76 

Concentrated  Diet  79 

High  Protein  Diet 83 

Reduced  Quantity  of  Food 87 

Horace  Fletcher's  Mistake 88 

The  Educated  or  House-Broken  Colon 90 

The  Use  of  Laxative  Drugs 93 

The  Food  Blockade  in  the  Colon 96 

Clogging  of  the  Colon 98 

Bulk  and  Lubrication 103 

How  to  Raise  the  Blockade 104 

The  Crippled  Colon 106 

Colon  Hygiene 106 

The  Receiving  Station 106 

Bowel  Habits  of  Wild  Animals,  Wild  Men,  and  Idiots .  108 

Injurious  Conventionalities   109 

Lesson  from  an  Idiot  Asylum 109 

Interesting  Japanese  Colon  Customs 112 

One  Daily  Evacuation  is  Chronic  Constipation 117 

Abnormal  Colon  Conditions 117 

Paralysis  of  the  Rectum 117 

Tight  Sphincter  118 

Colitis   118 

Prolapse  of  the  Pelvic  Colon 119 

Adhesions  of  the  Cecum 119 

Adhesions  of  the  Appendix 119 

Dilated  or  Pouched  Cecum 120 

Incompetent  Ileocecal   Valve 121 

X-RAY  Views  of  the  Food  Tube 123 

X-ray  Study  of  Motility 124 

What  the  X-ray  Expert  Sees 124 

Simple  Motility  Test 131 

Rules  for  Care  of  the  Colon 133 


CONTENTS  7 

PACK 

Simple  Constipation  134 

Cumulative  or  Rectal  Constipation 134 

Latent  Constipation   134 

The  Intestinal  Flora — What  It  Is  and  Why  It 

Must  Be  Changed 140 

Two  Classes  of  Germs — Fermentation  and   Putrefac- 
tion     141 

Poisoning  from   Putrefying  Colon  Contents 142 

Protective  Germs    144 

Cause  of  Old  Age 146 

Reforming  the  Intestinal  Flora 148 

Results  of  Changing  the  Flora 149 

Dangerous  Germs  Made  Harmless 150 

How^  to  Change  the  Intestinal  Flora 152 

The   "Fruit   Regimen" 154 

Antitoxic   Diet 155 

Protective  Acid-Forming  Bacteria 156 

Headaches  159 

The  Colon  not  Intended  to  be  a  Sewer 157 

Nuts  a  Coming  Food  Staple 165 

The  Origin  of  Peanut  Butter 170 

Food   Economy 172 

Advantages  of  a  Nut  Diet 175 

A  False  Economy 177 

Personal  Experience 182 

The  First  Mammals  Were  Nut  Eaters 184 

The  World's  Pedestrian  Record  Won  by  a  Nut  Eater.  185 

Nuts  May  Save  the  Race 187 

The  Nut  Is  a  Fruit  with  a  Shell 187 

Nuts  a  Good  Food  for  Nursing  Mothers  and 

for  Infants 190 

The  Blight  on  the  Baby  Crop 191 

Interesting  Experiments    192 

Low  Comparative  Cost  of  .Nuts 195 

The  Best  Nuts 203 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Diagram  of  Food  Tube  Showing  the  Ten 
Gates. 

Cross  Section  of  Intestinal  Villi. 

A  Gastric  Cycle. 

Cross  Section  of  Papilla  Circumvallatse,  show- 
ing Taste  Buds. 

The  Normal  Colon.  A  Series  of  ten  Colored 
Plates  showing  the  progress  of  the  food  and 
food  residues  along  a  normal  colon. 

Crippled  Colons  (three  colored  plates). 

Adherent  Pelvic  Colon. 

Pelvic  Colon  Restored  by  Operation. 

Reverse  Peristalsis. 

Incompetent  Ileocecal  Valve. 


THE  FOOD  TUBE 

The  food  tube,  or  prima  viae,  as  it  was 
termed  by  the  ancients,  is  a  muscular  tube 
through  which  the  food  travels  a  distance  of 
about  ten  yards  in  its  transit  of  the  body. 
This  journey  along  the  alimentary  canal,  how- 
ever, is  not  at  all  comparable  to  the  passage 
of  water  or  other  liquid  along  a  pipe.  The 
food  canal  is,  in  fact,  not  an  open  tube  into 
and  along  which  liquids  may  be  poured,  like  a 
water  pipe  or  a  rubber  tube,  but  a  soft,  flexi- 
ble, ever-changing  hollow  muscle  which  adapts 
its  size  to  its  contents  and  tightly  grasps  and 
manipulates  them  and  continually  pushes 
them  along  by  means  of  contraction  waves 
which  travel  rhythmically  from  above  down- 
ward so  long  as  there  is  anything  present  in 
the  tube,  either  solid,  liquid,  or  gaseous. 

When  solids  or  liquids  leave  the  mouth, 
then,  they  do  not  drop  through  a  hollow  tube 
into  our  interiors,  but  are  seized  or  grasped 
by  the  muscular  walls  of  the  food  tube  and 
are  forcibly  carried  on  from  point  to  point  by 
purposive  and  rhythmical  automatic  muscular 
movements. 


10        THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

The  mucous  lining  of  the  tube  is  so  sensi- 
tive that  the  smallest  particles  are  noticed  and 
dealt  with.  This  is  well  shown  in  the  mouth. 
A  minute  particle,  as  a  seed  or  flake  of  bran, 
will  keep  the  tongue  busy  until  it  has  been 
dislodged  and  disposed  of.  A  very  small 
particle  lodged  far  back  in  the  throat  will  pro- 
duce gagging,  coughing  or  other  expulsive  ef- 
forts until  swallowed  or  rejected. 

This  same  sensitiveness  to  contacts  exists 
all  the  way  along  the  food  tube  from  entrance 
to  exit,  although  after  the  food  is  swallowed, 
we  are  not,  when  in  health,  conscious  of  the 
automatic  efforts  by  which  they  are  moved 
along. 

When  the  tube  contents  are  bulky,  dis- 
tending or  stretching  its  muscular  walls,  these 
contraction  waves,  so-called  peristaltic  waves, 
are  vigorous  and  may  even  become  painfully 
violent  as  in  colic.  When  no  food  has  been 
taken  for  twelve  hours  or  more,  the  intestine 
is  inactive.  During  fasting  there  is  practically 
no  intestinal  activity. 

The  eminent  English  anatomist  Keith  has 
shown  that  the  movements  of  the  stomach 
and  intestines  are  controlled  by  a  mechanism 
much  the  same  as  that  which  controls  the  heart. 


DIAGRAM  OF  FOOD  TUBE 

Showing  the  Ten  Gates  which  control  the  movement  of  focjd 
along  the  canal.  1,  JVlouth  ;  2,  Kauces ;  3,  Entrance  to  Oesoph- 
agus ;  4,  Cardiac  Orilke  of  Stomach;  S,  Pylorus;  6,  Ileocecal 
Sphincter;  7,  Ileocecal  Valve;  8,  Keith's  Node,  seat  of  reverse 
peristalsis;  9,  Pelvic  Colon;   10,  Anus. 


THE  FOOD  TUBE  11 

His  "Seepent" 

The  intestinal  movements  are,  moreover,  di- 
rected with  such  evident  purpose  and  precision 
as  almost  to  suggest  that  the  food  tube  is  an 
independent  and  intelligent  creature,  possess- 
ing its  own  brain  and  will  and  ever  perform- 
ing its  functions  as  a  faithful  body-servant. 

The  movements  of  the  intestine  are  so 
much  like  those  which  one  sees  executed  by  a 
moving  snake,  that  a  noted  writer  very 
naturally  referred  to  his  food  tube  as  his 
"serpent,"  and  certain  movements  of  the  colon 
are  referred  to  in  medical  literature  as  snake- 
like movements. 

When  the  nerves  of  an  arm,  a  leg,  or  al- 
most any  other  organ  of  the  body,  are  sev- 
ered, so  that  connection  with  the  brain  or 
spinal  cord  is  cut  off,  the  organ  is  at  once 
paralyzed.  It  is  as  powerless  to  act  as  though 
it  were  actually  separated  from  the  body. 
This  is  by  no  means  the  case  with  the  food 
canal.  An  experiment  made  by  Professor 
Roger,  of  Paris,  will  illustrate  this.  A  stick 
pin  was  placed  in  the  intestine  of  an  animal, 
the  point  being  directed  downward.  At  once 
a  series  of  most  interesting  movements  began. 


12       THE  ITINEEAEY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

As  the  point  of  the  pin  began  to  penetrate  the 
wall  of  the  intestine,  the  tissues  began  to 
thicken,  thus  preventing  an  immediate  punc- 
ture. 

At  the  same  time,  a  fold  of  the  intestine 
pushed  up  beneath  the  head  of  the  pin  and 
pushed  it  over,  so  that  in  a  short  time  the  pin 
was  completely  reversed,  the  head  being  di- 
rected down  stream  in  the  intestine,  and  by  the 
contraction  of  the  bowel  pushed  along  until  it 
was  discharged  from  the  body.  Tliis  wonder- 
ful action  was  seen  to  take  place  in  the  intes- 
tine, even  after  all  the  nerves  connecting  the 
intestine  with  the  brain  had  been  severed. 

In  an  equally  intelligent  manner  the  stom- 
ach and  intestines  deal  with  the  food,  mo^dng 
it  along  from  point  to  point  as  is  necessary  to 
perfect  the  work  of  digestion  and  absorption, 
retaining  it  when  necessary  in  various  pouches 
for  special  purposes,  and  even  sending  it  back 
from  one  point  to  another  to  meet  certain  exi- 
gencies which  may  arise.  But  our  habits  of 
eating  are  so  unnatural,  and  our  neglect  of 
our  bodily  welfare  so  great,  that  in  spite  of 
Nature's  elaborate  precautions  and  marvelous 
adaptations,  very  few  persons  reach  adult  age 
without  getting  their  colons  so  badly  crippled 


THE  FOOD  TUBE  13 

that  they  are  compelled  to  suffer  almost  con- 
stantly from  miseries  and  inconveniences  from 
which  they  seek  relief  in  vain  tlu'ough  the  use 
of  cathartic  pills,  "salts,"  mineral  waters,  and 
a  long  list  of  drugs,  every  one  of  which  is  de- 
cidedly injurious  and  an  aggravation  of  the 
very  conditions  it  is  expected  to  relieve.  Lax- 
ative drugs  are  the  most  active  of  all  causes 
of  constipation. 

Food  the  Natural  Laxative 

When  food  is  taken  into  the  stomach,  the 
movements  of  the  tube  become  very  vigorous. 
Indeed,  while  the  food  is  still  in  the  mouth  and 
being  chewed,  and  before  a  morsel  has  been 
swallowed,  the  movements  begin,  and  are  four 
times  as  vigorous  during  the  taking  of  a  meal 
as  at  other  times.  This  is  a  very  excellent  rea- 
son why  constipated  persons  should  eat  delib- 
erately, taking  ample  time  at  meals  and  chew- 
ing long  and  well.  Food  is  the  natm-al  laxa- 
tive. The  act  of  eating  starts  the  action  of  the 
muscular  machinery  by  means  of  which  first 
the  food  and  later  the  food  residues  are  trans- 
ported along  the  alimentary  canal,  and  so  long 
as  chewing  continues  new  impulses  are  con- 
tinually transmitted  to  the  stomach  and  intes- 


14       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

tines  which  quicken  the  peristaltic  movements 
and  activity  of  the  whole  digestive  machine. 
The  observations  of  Hirsch,  Case  and  others 
have  shown  that  the  colon  contents  advance  as 
far  during  the  hour  of  eating  as  during  four 
hours  just  before  the  meal. 

This  interesting  fact  has  heretofore  re- 
ceived no  attention  from  writers  in  practical 
hygiene,  although  the  beneficial  influence  of 
eating  an  orange  or  an  apple  at  night  has  long 
been  recognized.  This  fact  is  no  doubt  also 
the  explanation  of  the  beneficial  effect  of  drink- 
ing cold  water  before  breakfast  and  at  bedtime. 

Stations  along  the  Road 

The  food  tube  is  like  a  street  in  London. 
Although  continuous,  it  bears  different  names 
at  different  points  along  its  course.  Named  in 
their  natural  order,  the  several  divisions  of  the 
alimentary  canal  are  as  follows : 

The  mouth;  the  fauces;  the  gullet  or 
oesophagus;  the  stomach;  the  duodenum, 
short  upper  part  of  small  intestine;  jejunum, 
upper  part  of  small  intestine  below  the  duo- 
denum; ileum,  lower  half  of  small  intestine; 
cecum,  the  first  part  of  the  colon;  ascending 
colon,  section  of  the  large  intestine  extending 


THE  FOOD  TUBE  15 

from  cecum  to  liver;  transverse  colon,  middle 
portion  which  passes  across  the  abdominal 
cavity  from  the  liver  on  the  right  to  the  spleen 
in  the  left;  the  descending  colon,  part  which 
lies  between  the  spleen  and  the  left  hip  bone; 
iliac  colon,  the  portion  lying  in  the  hollow  of 
the  left  hip  bone;  the  pelvic  colon,  the  free 
loop  which  connects  the  iliac  colon  with  the 
rectum;  the  rectum,  the  terminal  part  of  the 
large  intestine,  normally  empty;  the  anus,  the 
exit  of  the  food  tube  guarded  by  a  circular  or 
sphincter  muscle,  the  anal  sphincter;  fifteen 
divisions  in  all. 

Food  Principles 

The  materials  of  which  a  breakfast  is  com- 
posed are  not  homeogenous.  Food  is  made 
up  of  a  variety  of  very  diverse  elements, 
known  as  food  principles  of  which  there  are 
two  groups: 

1.  Major  food  principles,  which  constitute 
the  bulk  of  our  foods.    These  are: 

a.  Carbohydrates,  that  is  foodstuffs  made 
up  of  the  elements  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxy- 
gen, or  really,  carbon  and  water.  Starch, 
sugar,  dextrine  and  the  acids  of  fruits  and 
vegetables  make  up  this  class. 


16       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

b.  Fats,  hydrocarbons,  substances  consist- 
ing chiefly  of  carbon  and  hydrogen.  All  sorts 
of  edible  animal  and  vegetable  fats  and  oils  be- 
long to  this  class. 

c.  Proteins,  food  substances  made  up  of 
hydrogen,  oxygen  and  carbon,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  nitrogen,  sulphur,  and  phosphorus. 
White  of  egg,  the  lean  of  meat,  the  curd  of 
milk,  and  the  gluten  of  wheat  are  examples  of 
protein. 

All  of  these  substances  are  combustible, 
and  they  are  burned  in  the  body,  but  they  are 
not  equally  useful  as  fuel.  In  fact,  proteins 
are  hardly  to  be  considered  as  fuels.  When 
starch  and  fats  burn,  the  combustion  products 
are  simple,  odorless  and  harmless  carbon  di- 
oxide and  water.  When  protein  burns,  the 
products  are  highly  poisonous  and  foul  smell- 
ing gases. 

The  purpose  of  protein  is  to  supply  mate- 
rial for  building  and  repairing  the  tissues,  the 
machinery  of  the  body. 

These  major  food  principles  may  be  classi- 
fied then,  as  (1)  Fuel  food  principles — 
starch,  sugar  and  fats,  and  (2)  Tissue  build- 
ing food  principles,  the  proteins. 

2.     Minor  food  principles. 


THE  FOOD  TUBE  17 

These  are  also  three  in  number,  viz.,  salts, 
cellulose,  and  vitamines. 

The  salts  consist  chiefly  of  lime,  soda,  pot- 
ash, magnesia  and  iron,  combined  with  the 
principal  mineral  acids. 

Cellulose  is  found  in  vegetable  food  only. 
It  is  highly  important  as  a  bulk  forming  ele- 
ment and  is  necessary  to  stimulate  the  food 
tube  to  proper  activity. 

Vitamines  are  subtle  elements  in  the  food 
which  are  essential  to  good  nutrition,  and  in 
the  absence  of  which  various  deficiency  dis- 
orders make  their  appearance,  such  as  beri- 
beri, scurvy,  and  probably  pellagra  and  rickets. 

Vitamines  are  easily  destroyed  by  boiling 
or  baking  and  by  long  drying.  This  fact  em- 
phasizes the  need  of  a  daily  and  abundant  sup- 
ply of  fresh  fruit  and  vegetables  which  have 
not  been  impaired  by  cooking. 

It  must  also  be  remembered  that  vitamines 
are  chiefly  found  in  the  outer  coverings  of 
seeds  and  in  the  germ,  and  so  are  not  found  in 
fine  wheat  flour  nor  polished  rice.  Vitamines 
abound  in  fruit  and  vegetable  juices,  espe- 
cially the  juice  of  the  orange.  Green  leaves 
(uncooked)  such  as  lettuce,  cabbage,  and 
spinach,  are  rich  in  vitamines. 


THE  FIVE  FOOD  LABORA- 
TORIES 

The  crude  materials  which  we  eat  cannot 
be  used  for  blood  making  or  tissue  building 
until  they  have  been  reduced  to  simple, 
homogeneous  elements  and  refined  and  modi- 
fied by  various  chemico-vital  processes  which 
take  place  in  the  mouth,  stomach,  small  intes- 
tine, liver  and  colon,  each  of  which  is  a  veri- 
table food  laboratory  in  which  most  remark- 
able chemical  fluids,  the  digestive  juices,  are 
formed,  by  which  the  necessary  changes  are 
produced  in  the  several  elements  of  the  food. 

These  changes  are  absolutely  essential  to 
life,  and  must  be  complete  and  efficient  or  nu- 
trition will  fail,  strength  and  energy  will  de- 
preciate and  finally  the  life  processes  will 
cease. 

The  Mouth  Laboratory — The  Mill 

First  in  order  is  the  mouth,  the  mill  which 
grinds  the  food  by  thorough  mastication. 

The  chewing  of  agreeable  food  starts  up 
the  whole  digestive  machinery.  The  saliva 
flows  freely,  the  gastric  and  other  juices  like- 


THE  FIVE  FOOD  LABORATORIES  19 

wise  begin  to  flow  (appetite  juice — Pavlov) 
and  the  peristalic  waves  which  move  the  food 
along  the  food  tube  from  one  laboratory  to 
another,  start  in  the  stomach  and  travel  along 
the  whole  thirty  feet  of  the  alimentary  canal. 

The  saliva  softens  the  food  and  also  trans- 
forms some  of  the  starch  into  sugar  (malt 
sugar)  by  the  action  of  a  starch-digesting  fer- 
ment which  it  contains.  The  longer  the  food 
is  chewed  the  more  completely  the  starch  is 
digested,  and  the  larger  the  amount  of  gastric 
juice  produced  in  the  stomach  in  readiness  to 
digest  the  food  when  it  arrives. 

Proper  chewing  of  the  food  also  serves  a 
useful  purpose  in  regulating  the  food  intake. 
The  thorough  tasting  of  the  food  permits  the 
nerves  of  taste  to  judge  the  quality  of  the 
food  and  to  regulate  the  intake  to  suit  the 
needs  of  the  body,  a  most  important  function. 
Hasty  eating  and  overeating  go  together. 

Thorough  mastication  of  the  food  helps  to 
preserve  the  teeth  by  giving  them  the  exer- 
cise they  need. 

Persons  who  suffer  from  sour  stomach,  a 
condition  due  to  an  excess  of  hydrochloric 
acid  secretion,  should  chew  little,  and  so  should 
eat  soft  food  that  needs  little  mastication. 


20       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

The  Stomach  Laboeatory 

The  action  of  the  saliva  continues  in  the 
stomach. 

The  stomach  makes  a  strongly  acid  fluid, 
the  gastric  juice,  which  breaks  up  and  softens 
the  food  by  dissolving  certain  of  the  proteins; 
but  it  does  not  complete  the  work,  and  very 
little  absorption  takes  place  in  the  stomach. 
Gastric  digestion  is  a  sort  of  preliminary 
change  in  the  food  by  which  it  is  prepared  for 
the  action  of  the  digestive  fluids  of  the  small 
intestine. 

The  Chief  Food  Laboratory 

The  small  intestine  is  the  great  food  lab- 
oratory of  the  body.  Here  the  main  work  of 
digestion  is  done.  Nearly  all  the  digestible 
food  principles  are  here  completely  trans- 
formed and  prepared  for  blood  and  tissue 
building. 

In  the  small  intestine  absorption  is  sur- 
prisingly active.  There  are  5,000,000  villi,  the 
special  absorbents  of  the  intestine,  each  of 
which,  working  constantly,  absorbs  about 
one  ounce  of  liquid  in  a  life  time  of  sixty  years. 

The  small  intestine  normally  absorbs  about 


Cross-Section  of  Villi  from  the  Small  Intestine 


THE  FIVE  FOOD  LABORATORIES  21 

six  quarts  of  liquid  food  stuffs  daily.     The 
colon  absorbs  only  10-20  ounces  daily. 

The  food  material  which  passes  through 
the  intestine  may  be  regarded  as  the  soil  out 
of  which  the  body  grows.  The  villi  are  the 
rootlets  which  suck  up  the  nourishment  by 
which  the  body  is  developed  and  maintained. 

The  Liver  Laboratory — The  Refinery 

Outside  the  food  tube,  but  directly  con- 
nected with  it,  is  a  wonderful  laboratory  to 
which  practically  all  of  the  food  goes  after 
absorption  and  before  entering  the  general 
blood  current.  Here  the  various  products  of 
digestion  undergo  the  final  delicate  changes 
needed  to  prepare  them  for  the  various  parts 
which  they  are  to  play  in  the  repair  and  main- 
tenance of  the  body.  In  this  laboratory  more 
work  is  done,  and  a  greater  variety  of  work, 
than  is  accomplished  by  any  other  gland  in 
the  body,  a  fact  which  is  the  more  surprizing 
as,  from  an  anatomical  standpoint  the  struct- 
ure of  the  liver  is  very  simple,  giving  no  sug- 
gestion of  the  astonishing  versatiUty  of  its 
work. 


22       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

The  Waste-Disposal  System 

One  more  important  laboratory  remains  to 
be  described, — the  colon,  the  waste-disposal 
system  of  the  body.  By  the  time  the  food- 
stuffs have  passed  through  the  twenty-two 
feet  of  small  intestine,  the  digestible  and  ab- 
sorbable matters  have  been  practically  all  di- 
gested and  absorbed. 

Out  of  the  pound  and  a  half  of  water- 
free  digestible  food  usually  eaten  daily,  only  a 
small  fraction  is  usually  found  in  the  ma- 
terial which  enters  the  colon  from  the  small 
intestine.  The  colon  has  little  to  do  but  to  dis- 
pose of  the  unusable  food  remnants  and  of 
the  excretory  waste  matters  which  enter  the 
colon  from  the  blood.  The  food  residues  con- 
tain billions  of  bacteria,  which  sometimes  con- 
stitute more  than  half  of  the  whole  mass  of 
the  feces. 

The  first  half  of  the  colon  acts  as  a  reduc- 
ing plant,  absorbing  a  part  of  the  water,  by 
which  the  bulk  of  the  material  to  be  disposed 
of  is  reduced  more  than  one  half. 

The  second  half  of  the  colon,  the  terminal 
part  of  the  food  tube,  has  no  other  function 
than  to  transmit  and  eject  from  the  body  the 


THE  FIVE  FOOD  LABORATORIES  23 

waste  and  poisonous  matters  which  constitute 
the  feces  or  the  stool. 

The  Normal  Intestinal  Rhythm — Three 
Daily  Evacuations 

Under  normal  conditions,  when  all  parts 
of  the  digestive  tube  are  doing  their  work 
efficiently,  the  colon  discharges  its  contents 
at  least  three  times  a  day.  The  residue  of  each 
meal  is  dismissed  after  the  second  following 
meal.  That  is,  the  food  residues  from  the 
daily  breakfast  should  be  discharged  by  a 
bowel  movement  between  supper  and  bedtime. 

The  following  is  the  order  of  the  food  pro- 
cession for  the  three  daily  meals: 

Breakfast  leaves'  the  stomach  and  reaches 
the  lower  part  of  the  small  intestine  in  four  to 
five  hours  (see  diagram).  The  vigorous  ac- 
tivity set  up  by  the  taking  of  dinner  pushes 
the  breakfast  residue  over  into  the  colon,  the 
middle  part  of  which  is  reached  within  nine 
or  ten  hours.  Between  dinner  and  supper, 
the  breakfast  residue  slowly  works  along  to 
the  lower  end  of  the  colon;  and  when  supper 
is  eaten,  the  new  and  vigorous  peristaltic 
waves  started  in  the  stomach  sweep  the  din- 
ner residue  into  the  colon,  and  should  carry 


24       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

out  of  the  body  the  breakfast  residue  all  ready 
waiting  close  to  the  outlet  to  be  dismissed. 

During  the  night,  the  breakfast  residue 
works  slowly  along  the  colon  to  the  lower  end, 
and  the  supper  residue  passes  over  from  the 
small  intestine  into  the  colon.  The  stimulus 
of  awakening  and  the  effort  of  rising  often 
produce  a  bowel  movement  before  breakfast 
by  which  the  dinner  residue  is  dismissed. 

After  breakfast,  the  supper  residue  is  dis- 
missed by  the  strong  peristaltic  waves  set  up 
by  the  meal,  which  should  completely  empty 
the  colon. 

When  the  colon  is  thus  swept  clean  of  all 
body  wastes  and  food  residues  once  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  there  is  no  time  for  putrefaction, 
and  the  stools  are  free  from  the  loathsome 
odors  of  decay  which  are  commonly  present. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  blood  remains 
free  from  the  pollution  which  must  result  from 
the  stagnation  of  food  residues  which  have 
been  retained  for  many  successive  days  until 
putrefaction  processes  have  reached  a  very  ad- 
vanced stage.  The  liver,  lungs,  kidneys,  and 
skin  are  not  compelled  to  act  as  sewers  in  at- 
tempting to  carry  off  the  filth  which  the  colon 
has  failed  to  dispose  of. 


THE  FIVE  FOOD  LABORATORIES  25 

So  long  as  the  body  wastes  are  disposed  of 
in  this  prompt  and  normal  manner,  the  terri- 
ble effects  which  arise  from  intestinal  toxemia 
or  autointoxication  are  not  seen.  The  skin  is 
clear,  the  tongue  clean,  the  breath  sweet,  the 
appetite  keen,  the  mind  active,  optimistic  and 
serene,  sleep  sound  and  restful,  endurance 
great  and  resistance  high. 

Unfortunately,  this  happy  state  is  seldom 
met  among  civilized  people  who  have  advanced 
beyond  the  age  of  infancy.  The  customs  of 
civilized  life  nearly  all  tend  to  render  the 
colon  sluggish,  and  to  cripple  its  function  as  a 
waste-disposal  system.  The  flesh-eating  habit 
loads  the  colon  with  the  remnants  of  un- 
digested flesh  which  undergo  the  same 
changes  which  take  place  in  the  decaying  car- 
cass of  a  dead  animal  left  to  itself.  Thus,  the 
body  is  flooded  with  the  most  horrible  and 
loathsome  poisons,  and  the  marvel  is  not  that 
human  life  is  so  short  and  so  full  of  miseries, 
mental,  moral,  and  physical,  but  that  civilized 
human  beings  are  able  to  live  at  all.  The 
civilized  colon  with  its  accumulated  residue  of 
five  to  fifteen  meals  or  more,  is  a  Golgotha  of 
pollution,  a  veritable  Pandora's  box  of  disease. 

Modern  science  has  not  only  taught  us 


26       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

how  the  normal  colon  should  act,  but  how 
the  diseased  colon  may  be  reformed.  By 
a  proper  diet  and  proper  management,  even 
very  obstinate  colons  may  be  made  to  act 
three  times  a  day.  Even  colons  which  have 
become  so  badly  twisted  out  of  shape  by  ad- 
hesions and  kinks,  and  so  paralyzed  by  over- 
distension that  they  cannot  be  restored  by  the 
simple  means  mentioned  may,  by  the  wonder- 
ful resources  of  modern  surgery,  be  made  to 
perform  their  function  in  a  perfectly  satis- 
factory manner.  And  thus  it  may  be  said 
safely  that  every  case  of  constipation,  no  mat- 
ter how  obstinate,  or  what  its  cause,  may  be 
substantially  relieved. 

In  other  words,  the  obstacles  which  bad 
habits  and  resulting  disease  create  along  the 
food  tube  may  be  removed,  so  that  the  delays 
which  produce  intestinal  toxemia  with  all  its 
horrible  consequences  may  be  prevented  and 
the  normal  itinerary  reestablished. 

The  alimentary  canal  may  be  considered  as 
divided  into  four  apartments,  in  each  of  which 
the  food  is  retained  for  a  time  to  undergo 
changes  which  are  not  only  essential  to  the  di- 
gestive process,  but  are  necessary  to  prepare 
the   way   for   the   next   succeeding   series   of 


A  Gastric  Cycle 


X-ray  Motion    I'iclurc-   of   the   Stomacli,   showing  Actit^ii  of 
the   Pylorus 


THE  FIVE  FOOD  LABORATORIES  27 

changes  that  the  food  must  undergo  before  it 
is  absorbed. 

In  the  mouth,  food  is  reduced  to  a  soft 
pulp  by  the  mechanical  action  of  the  teeth,  the 
tongue  and  cheeks.  At  the  same  time,  the 
food  is  mixed  with  the  saliva,  which  acts  upon 
the  starch,  converting  it  into  sugar.  This  ac- 
tion begins  in  the  mouth  and  continues  for 
one  or  two  hours  in  the  stomach  after  the  food 
is  swallowed. 

In  the  stomach,  the  food  is  mixed  with 
gastric  juice,  which,  acting  upon  the  food  after 
it  has  been  acted  upon  by  the  saliva,  reduces 
it  to  a  semi-fluid  state.  The  mixing  of  the 
gastric  juice  with  the  food  is  accomplished  by 
contraction  waves,  which  pass  along  the 
stomach  at  the  rate  of  three  to  five  waves  per 
minute. 

These  contraction  waves  also  serve  to  pass 
the  digested  food  into  the  small  intestine 
through  the  pylorus  in  portions  equal  to  about 
one  tablespoonful. 

The  work  of  the  stomach,  like  that  of  the 
mouth,  is  preliminary,  having  for  its  purpose 
the  preparation  of  the  food  for  further  action 
by  the  digestive  juices  which  it  encounters  in 
the  small  intestine. 


28       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

In  the  small  intestine,  which  is  some 
twenty-two  feet  in  length,  is  performed  the 
greater  part  of  the  work  of  digestion,  and 
practically  the  whole  of  the  work  of  absorp- 
tion. It  is  only  in  this  part  of  the  digestive 
apparatus  that  digestion  is  carried  to  the 
point  of  completion,  by  the  action  of  the  sev- 
eral quarts  of  digestive  juices,  consisting  of 
gastric  juice,  pancreatic  juice,  intestinal  juice, 
and  the  bile. 

The  small  intestine  absorbs  the  enormous 
quantity  of  five  or  six  quarts  of  liquid  daily. 
Of  the  solid  matter  taken  at  an  ordinary  meal, 
less  than  an  ounce  finds  its  way  into  the  colon. 
Practically  all  the  digestible  and  usable  por- 
tion of  the  food  is  absorbed  by  the  small  in- 
testine. 

The  total  volume  of  material  which  passes 
from  the  small  intestine  into  the  colon  each 
twenty-four  hours  is  only  about  one  pint. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  small  intestine 
does  practically  all  the  work  of  digestion  and 
absorption.  The  work  performed  by  the 
stomach,  while  important,  can  be  dispensed 
with.  There  are  many  persons  living  whose 
stomachs  have  been  removed  and  who  have 
good  digestions,  and  enjoy  good  health. 


THE  FIVE  FOOD  LABORATORIES  29 

The  Food  Residues 

The  small  amount  of  matter  that  passes 
into  the  colon  consists  of  indigestible  food 
residues,  excretory  products  and  intestinal 
mucus.  These  substances  are  of  iio  use  to  the 
body  and  may  do  much  harm  if  retained  be- 
cause of  the  readiness  with  which  they 
undergo  putrefaction.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
colon  to  receive  these  waste  matters  and  dis- 
miss them  from  the  body. 

During  transit  along  the  colon,  a  little 
more  than  half  of  the  water  content  of  the 
fecal  matters  is  absorbed,  but  the  amount  of 
absorption  which  takes  place  from  the  colon 
represents  only  about  one-twentieth  of  the 
work  of  absorption  done  by  the  small  intes- 
tine. 


THE  DIGESTIVE  TIME  TABLE 

Now  that  the  work  of  the  several  depart- 
ments of  the  ahmentary  canal  has  been  de- 
fined, we  are  better  prepared  to  understand 
the  rhythmical  processes  by  which  nature 
moves  the  foodstuffs  along  from  one  part  to 
another  until  all  the  usable  material  has  been 
absorbed,  and  then  disposes  of  the  unusable 
residue. 

Rhythmic  Activity 

The  work  of  the  stomach  is  completed  in 
three  to  five  hours,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
it  is  found  empty. 

The  work  of  the  small  intestine,  which 
begins  within  a  few  minutes  after  food  is 
taken  into  the  stomach,  when  the  first  small 
portions  of  liquid  material  begin  to  pass  out 
through  the  pylorus,  is  finished  at  the  end  of 
eight  or  nine  hours  from  the  beginning  of  the 
meal. 

At  the  end  of  eight  hours  in  a  normal  per- 
son, the  indigestible  and  unusable  remnants 
of  the  food  are  found  in  the  first  part  of  the 
colon.      Tests   made   by   means   of   carmine. 


THE  DIGESTIVE  TIME  TABLE  31 

swallowed  in  a  capsule,  show  that  in  normal 
persons,  discharge  of  the  unusable  residues 
of  the  meal  begins  seven  to  ten  hours  after 
the  meal  is  taken  and  may  be  completed  in 
twelve  to  fourteen  hours. 

Rate  of  Movement 

If  the  food  can  pass  from  the  mouth  to 
the  colon,  a  distance  of  nearly  twenty-five  feet 
in  eight  hours,  in  the  meantime  undergoing 
the  various  complicated  processes  of  gastric 
and  intestinal  digestion,  there  certainly  seems 
to  be  no  good  reason  why  the  food  residue 
should  not  complete  the  transit  of  the  colon, 
a  distance  only  one-fifth  as  great,  in  one-half 
the  time,  or  four  hours,  especially  since  the 
work  done  by  the  colon  is  almost  exclusively 
mechanical,  the  work  of  digestion  and  absorp- 
tion having  been  completed  in  the  small  intes- 
tine. 

There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  the  un- 
usable remnants  of  the  food  should  remain  for 
many  hours,  even  days,  in  the  colon,  under- 
going putrefactive  changes  and  contributing 
in  no  way  whatever  to  the  welfare  of  the 
body,  but,  on  the  contrary,  serving  as  a  tre- 


32       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

mendous  vital  handicap  and  a  cause  of  multi- 
tudinous miseries,  maladies,  and  degenera- 
tions. 

Those  who  maintain  that  the  normal  time 
required  for  a  meal  to  make  the  transit  of  the 
alimentary  canal  is  forty-eight  hours  or  more, 
should  explain  why  it  is  necessary  that  the 
unusable  remnants  of  a  meal,  the  usable  por- 
tion of  which  has  been  digested  and  absorbed 
in  eight  hours,  should  lie  about  rotting,  pu- 
trefying and  festering  in  the  colon  for  forty 
hours  or  more,  or  five  times  the  length  of  time 
required  for  digestion  and  absorption. 

This  long  delay  affords  an  opportunity 
for  the  development  of  putrefactive  poisons, 
which  not  only  Metchnikoff,  but  many  other 
investigators,  have  shown  to  be  the  prime 
factors  in  the  development  of  chronic  disease 
and  premature  senility. 

Nature's  Plan 

The  writer  has  gathered  from  various 
sources  a  considerable  amount  of  evidence 
that  indicates  that  under  normal  conditions,  a 
normal  man,  living  upon  a  normal  diet,  which 
will  include  a  sufficient  amount  of  cellulose 
to  furnish  the  normal  stimulus  to  the  muscular 


THE  DIGESTIVE  TIME  TABLE  33 

walls  of  the  intestine,  will  experience  an  evac- 
uation of  alimentary  wastes  at  least  three  times 
a  day,  and,  in  many  cases,  four  times. 

Three  bowel  movements  a  day,  indeed,  is 
the  prevailing  habit  among  primitive  people 
and  the  higher  apes.  The  chimpanzee  and  the 
orang-utan  move  their  bowels  four  to  six 
times  daily. 

This  statement  is  made  on  information  ob- 
tained by  the  writer  direct  from  the  keeper 
in  charge  of  the  London  Zoo,  to  which  sev- 
eral visits  were  made  for  the  express  purpose 
of  inquiring  into  this  matter  and  from  others 
well  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  the  big  apes. 

Doctor  Hornaday,  superintendent  of  the 
Bronx  Park,  informed  the  writer  that  the  big 
monkeys  of  the  Bronx  zoological  collection 
move  their  bowels  three  times  daily. 

When  the  intestine  is  empty,  it  is  entirely 
quiet.  When  food  is  introduced  into  the 
stomach,  contractile  movements  at  once  be- 
gin. These  so-called  peristaltic  movements 
are  not  confined  to  the  stomach,  but  simulta- 
neously with  the  beginning  of  contractile 
waves  in  the  stomach  similar  waves  appear 
all  along  the  intestinal  tract,  from  stomach 
to  colon. 


34       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Food  Excites  Peristalsis 

Food  is  the  natural  laxative  and  the  ac- 
tivity set  up  in  the  stomach  by  the  taking  of 
food,  is  communicated  to  the  entire  intestinal 
tract. 

The  result  is  that  the  intestinal  activity  set 
up  by  the  taking  of  food  into  the  stomach, 
not  only  serves  to  pass  digesting  food  out  of 
the  stomach  into  the  intestine  but  at  the  same 
time  serves  to  move  forward  collections  of  food 
or  food  residues  at  various  points  in  the  ali- 
mentary canal. 

When,  for  example,  a  mid-day  meal  is 
taken,  a  portion  of  the  breakfast  is  still  in  the 
small  intestine.  The  effect  of  peristaltic  ac- 
tivity set  up  by  the  taking  of  the  mid-day 
meal  is  to  cause  the  small  intestine  to  rapidly 
empty  itself  into  the  colon. 

During  the  activity  excited  by  luncheon 
or  dinner,  the  residues  of  the  breakfast,  which 
have  reached  the  colon,  are  gradually  pushed 
farther  along  until  at  the  end  of  eight  or  ten 
hours  they  reach  the  lower  part  of  the  colon. 

When  the  morning  meal  is  taken,  a  new 
series  of  vigorous  peristaltic  waves  is  set  in 
motion.     These  not  only  push  the  unusable 


THE  DIGESTIVE  TIME  TABLE  35 

remnants  of  the  last  meal  forward  into  the 
colon,  but  at  the  same  time  carry  the  residues 
of  the  breakfast  to  the  lower  part  of  the  colon 
and  thus  create  a  desire  for  evacuation.  This 
discharge  of  the  unusable  remnants  of  the 
breakfast  should  normally  take  place  between 
dinner  and  supper  or  supper  and  bedtime. 

That  this  rarely  occurs  is  doubtless  the 
result  of  too  little  roughage  and  neglect  to 
attend  promptly  to  the  call  of  nature. 

During  the  night,  the  residues  of  the  last 
two  meals  of  the  day  gradually  work  their 
way  farther  down  and  in  the  morning  the  in- 
testinal activity  naturally  set  up  by  the  move- 
ments of  the  body  on  rising,  should  result  in 
the  discharge  before  breakfast  of  the  residues 
of  the  mid-day  meal  of  the  day  before.  In 
the  same  way  the  vigorous  peristaltic  activity 
awakened  by  the  taking  of  breakfast  should 
result  in  the  dismissal  of  the  residues  of  the 
evening  meal  of  the  previous  day. 

In  other  words,  the  peristaltic  wave  set 
up  by  each  meal  should  cause  the  advance- 
ment of  the  preceding  meal  from  the  small 
intestine  into  the  colon,  and,  shortly  after- 
ward, the  discharge  of  the  unused  remnants 
of  the  next  to  the  last  meal. 


36       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

This  is  the  normal  intestinal  rhythm  and 
the  nearer  it  can  be  approximated  in  actual 
experience,  the  better. 

The  writer  is  convinced  that  the  highest 
degree  of  health,  comfort,  efficiency  and 
longevity,  can  only  be  obtained  by  maintain- 
ing such  a  degree  of  intestinal  activity  as  will 
prevent  the  accumulation  in  the  colon  of  pu- 
trefying food  residues  and  other  poisonous 
wastes ;  for  these  putrefying  materials  contam- 
inate the  blood,  and,  by  uimecessary  and  ex- 
cessive work,  wear  out  the  liver,  kidneys  and 
other  poison-destroying  organs;  damage  the 
blood  vessels  by  constant  contact  with  a 
poison-laden  blood  current;  and  intoxicate 
and  irritate,  and  ultimately  render  pre- 
maturely injBrm  and  senile  the  body  cells. 


THE  DIGESTIVE  TIME  TABLE 


37 


Normal  Itinerary  of  a  Meal  Passing  Through 
the  Alimentary  Subway 


TIME  TABLE 


Arhival 

Gate 

Station 

Departurz 

8:00  A.M. 

No. 
No. 
No. 

1.  Food  Administrator 

2.  Inspector 

3.  Food  and  Water 

Mouth 

8:30  A.M. 

8:30  A.M. 

No. 
No. 

4.  Stomach 

5.  Bowel — Pylorus 

Stomach 

12:00  Noon 

12:00  Noon 

No. 

6.  Ileo.   Sphincter 

Small  Intestine 

4:00  P.M. 

4:00  p.m. 

No. 

7.    Colon-Ileo.  Valve 

Cecum 

6:00  P.M. 

6:00  p.m. 

No. 

8.  Reversing  Gate 

Transverse  Colon 

8:00  P.M. 

8:00  r.x. 

No. 

9.  Ejector 

Pelvic  Colon 

10:00  P.M. 

No. 

10.  Exit 

Rectum 

10:00  p.m. 

SPECIAL  NOTICES 

Train  Late:  Held  at  Stomach  Station  for  2  hrs.  Bowel 
Gate    (No.  5)    refused  to  open. 

Losing  Time:  Wreck  at  Colon  Gate  (No.  7).  Ileocecal  valve 
refuses  to  close,  track  obstructed  with  rubbish. 
8  hours  late. 

Losing  Time:    Collision    with    heavy    train    backing    up.      10 
hours  late. 

Losing  Time:  Obstruction  on  the  track.  Ejector  Gate  (No. 
9)  refuses  to  open.    20  hours  late. 

Losing  Time:  Serious  obstruction.  Track  buried  with  rub- 
bish.    35  hours  late. 

Train    arrives    at    last,     after     clearing    track 
with  dynamite  (castor  oil),  forty  hours  late. 
(This  is  the  usual  program  when  the  bowels  move  only 

once  a  day  or  occasionally.) 


THE  TEN  GATES 

The  study  of  the  food  gates  is  a  new  and 
highly  interesting  chapter  in  physiology  which 
has  been  brought  to  light  by  the  remarkable 
discoveries  made  by  means  of  that  magical 
revealer  of  secrets,  the  X-ray. 

The  movement  of  the  food  along  the  ali- 
mentary tube  is  not  at  a  regular  rate. 
Numerous  pauses  occur.  The  arrangement 
is  similar  to  that  of  a  well  organized  factory, 
in  which  a  piece  of  mechanism,  such  as  a 
watch  for  example,  is  passed  from  one  to  an- 
other of  a  long  line  of  experts,  each  of  whom 
does  a  particular  part  of  the  work,  adding  a 
wheel  or  a  pinion,  or  some  other  necessary 
part,  then  passing  the  device  along  to  the 
next  workman,  who  advances  the  work  an- 
other step  towards  completion. 

The  pauses  essential  for  these  special 
processes  are  secured  by  means  of  what  may 
be  called  "gates,"  by  which  the  progress  of 
each  morsel  of  food  is  temporarily  checked 
while  some  special  work,  as  of  digestion,  ab- 
sorption, or  selection,  is  being  accomplished. 

We  are  now  somewhat  acquainted  with 


THE  TEN  GATES  39 

the  food  tube  and  its  work,  which  consists 
essentially  in  passing  the  food  along  from  one 
laboratory  to  another,  finally  gathering  up 
the  wastes  and  unusable  residues  and  reject- 
ing them  from  the  body. 

Let  us  now  trace  the  progress  of  a  test 
breakfast  along  the  food  tube  and  observe 
the  ingenious  devices  by  means  of  which  the 
several  processes  are  coordinated  and  the 
procession  of  body  building  and  energy-feed- 
ing material  maintained. 

Many  of  the  most  serious  disorders  of  di- 
gestion, recent  physiological  research  has 
shown,  are  the  result  of  disturbances  which 
occur  at  the  food  gates,  so  that  it  is  a  matter 
of  very  great  practical  interest  to  discover  the 
relation  of  these  gates  to  healthy  digestion, 
and  to  associate  the  various  disturbances  which 
occur  in  conditions  of  disease  each  with  its  par- 
ticular gate. 

The  gates  are  ten  in  number.  Their  loca- 
tion and  relation  will  be  readily  understood 
after  a  glance  at  the  accompanying  diagram. 

The  names  of  the  several  gates  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

1.  Entrance  or  Food  Dictator's  gate, 
the  mouth. 


40       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

2.  Food  Inspector's  gate,  the  soft  palate. 

3.  Food  and  Water  gate. 

4.  Stomach  gate. 

5.  The  Bowel  gate,  Pylorus. 

6.  Control  gate,  ileocecal  sphincter. 

7.  Colon  gate,  ileocecal  valve. 

8.  Reversing  gate,  middle  of  transverse 
colon. 

9.  Discharging  or  ejector  gate,  pelvic 
colon. 

10.  Exit  gate,  anus. 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  1 

The  Entrance  Gate — The  Mouth 

One  purpose  of  the  entrance  gate  is  to 
guard  the  food  tube  and  to  keep  out  of  it  all 
harmful  substances,  rejecting  of  course,  all 
things  known  to  be  poisonous,  such  as  alcohol 
and  tobacco,  as  well  as  tea  and  coffee  and  all 
other  habit-forming  drugs. 

Just  beneath  the  skin  of  the  lips  there  is 
found  a  muscle  entirely  surrounding  the 
mouth.  This  muscle  is  brought  into  strong 
action  in  whistling  or  puckering  the  lips.  It 
normally  acts  with  just  sufficient  force  to 
keep  the  lips  in  contact  when  they  are  not 


THE  TEN  GATES  41 

open  for  the  purpose  of  eating,  drinking,  or 
speaking.  This  is  very  necessary  for  main- 
taining a  healthy  condition  of  the  mouth. 
When,  for  instance,  the  lower  jaw  drops 
down  during  sleep  and  the  lips  are  parted, 
the  air  is  drawn  in  through  the  mouth.  The 
result  may  be  serious  injury  to  the  throat 
through  the  excessive  drying  of  the  mucous 
membrane  at  the  back  of  the  throat,  and  still 
greater  injury  probably  results  from  the  in- 
fection which  occurs  as  the  result  of  the  de- 
posit of  numerous  germs  on  the  surface  of 
the  tongue  and  pharynx. 

The  nose,  which  is  the  natural  channel  for 
the  air  in  breathing,  is  provided  with  means 
for  filtering  and  moistening  air  that  is  lack- 
ing in  the  mouth.  In  mouth  breathing,  nu- 
merous bacteria  and  microbic  forms  found  in 
the  air  are  deposited  upon  the  tongue,  soft 
palate,  and  the  tonsils,  and  grow  rapidly 
and  produce  overnight  a  thick  foul  coat  upon 
the  tongue,  a  disagreeable,  unpleasant  tasting 
slime  which  covers  the  teeth  and  all  parts  of 
the  mouth. 

On  examination  under  a  microscope  this 
slime  from  the  coating  of  the  tongue  shows 
bacteria    in    enormous    numbers.      Some    of 


42       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

these  are  capable  of  living  in  the  stomach 
when  swallowed,  as  sometimes  occurs  during 
sleep,  so  infection  may  extend  to  the  stom- 
ach and  thence  to  the  small  intestine  and  the 
colon.  These  germs  modern  investigators 
have  shown  to  be  the  cause  of  a  large  share 
of  the  maladies  which  afflict  human  beings  in 
the  civilized  state,  and  are  the  cause  of  old 
age,  as  shown  by  Metchnikoff.  In  the  Arctic 
region,  where  the  air  is  free  from  germs,  the 
intestines  of  animals  are  found  to  contain  no 
bacteria. 

The  character  of  the  material  which 
passes  along  the  food  tube  depends  absolutely 
and  wholly  upon  the  action  of  the  entrance 
gate  in  accepting  or  rejecting  the  various  ma- 
terials offered.  The  mouth  is  aided  in  its  de- 
cisions by  the  sense  of  smell,  by  the  memory 
of  previous  taste  experiences  and  sometimes 
by  common  sense  and  reason.  More  often, 
the  mouth  lets  in  whatever  is  offered,  or  what- 
ever a  perverted  appetite  may  call  for. 

Civilized  people  everywhere  have  culti- 
vated many  artificial  and  harmful  appetites 
which  call  for  the  passage  through  the  en- 
trance gate  of  a  multitude  of  substances 
which  were  never  designed  by  nature  to  be 


THE  TEN  GATES  43 

eaten  by  human  beings,  as  shown  by  the  fact 
that  they  are  not  eaten  by  other  animals  be- 
longing to  the  same  biologic  class  with  our- 
selves, that  is  the  higher  apes. 

All  horses  adhere  absolutely  to  a  common 
bill  of  fare,  that  which  has  nourished  their  an- 
cestors ever  since  horses  appeared  in  the  ani- 
mal world. 

Man  is  a  primate,  a  member  of  a  rather 
small  family  of  animals  which  possess  among 
other  striking  and  peculiar  characteristics,  a 
pair  of  hands  instead  of  feet  attached  to  their 
anterior  limbs.  Nothing  could  be  more  evi- 
dent than  that  man  should  adhere  to  the  same 
dietary  as  his  near  relatives,  the  big  apes,  viz., 
fruits,  nuts,  tender  green  shoots,  grains  and 
succulent  roots,  adding  milk  and  eggs. 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  2 

The  Inspector's  Gate — The  Soft  Palate 
AND  Nerves  of  Taste 

At  the  back  of  the  mouth  the  palate  and 
fauces  combine  to  close  the  passage  between 
the  mouth  and  the  pharynx,  a  small  cavity  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  alimentary  canal.  This 
gate  performs  three  important  functions. 


44       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

1.  It  insures  thorough  mastication  of  the 
food.  The  soft  palate  possesses  peculiar 
sensibility  to  contact  with  solid  objects.  When 
such  an  object  comes  in  contact  with  the 
uvula  a  reflex  action  is  at  once  produced,  as 
the  result  of  which  the  base  of  the  tongue  is 
drawn  up  and  the  object  thrown  forward 
into  the  mouth.  Strong  stimulation  of  the 
fauces  produces  coughing  and  gagging,  by 
which  solid  materials  may  be  projected  for- 
ward with  so  much  force  as  to  be  ejected 
from  the  mouth.  This  is  the  reason  why  it  is 
difficult  to  swallow  a  pill,  for  which,  indeed, 
some  practice  is  necessary  in  the  case  of  many 
persons. 

Now  below  the  mouth  the  alimentary 
canal  provides  no  means  for  the  mechanical 
reduction  of  the  food.  Certain  birds  are 
provided  with  a  mill  lower  down — ^the  giz- 
zard,— and  in  some  lower  species  of  animals 
more  complicated  mechanisms  are  provided 
for  grinding  the  food.  Such  animals  natur- 
ally swallow  their  food  entire,  but  in  human 
beings,  as  well  as  in  the  horse  and  most  other 
mammals,  the  mill  is  located  in  the  mouth, 
and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  soft  palate  to  see  that 
the  food  is  completely  ground  and  reduced  to 


Cross-section   of    Papilla   from   Back   of   Tongue 
Showing  Taste  Buds  at  A. 


THE  TEN  GATES  45 

a  semi-liquid  state  before  it  is  permitted  to 
proceed  further  along  the  digestive  tract. 
Thorough  mastication  is  necessary  in  order 
that  the  saliva  and  the  juices  of  the  stomach 
and  intestine  may  be  readily  brought  into  con- 
tact with  every  particle  of  food,  so  that  each 
may  do  its  work  upon  the  individual  food  ele- 
ments promptly  and  completely. 

That  the  jaws  were  intended  for  powerful 
action  is  shown  by  the  extraordinary  power 
which  their  muscles  possess.  The  strength  of 
the  bite  is  seldom  less  than  eighty  pounds  and 
sometimes  reaches  two  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds. 

2.  The  inspector's  gate  holds  the  food  in 
the  mouth  long  enough  for  the  nerves  of  taste 
to  exercise  their  functions.  Pavlov,  of 
Petrograd,  discovered  that  the  nerves  of 
taste  with  which  the  food  is  brought  in  con- 
tact in  the  mouth,  perform  a  most  important 
function  in  relation  to  the  digestion  of  food 
in  the  stomach.  At  the  back  of  the  tongue 
there  is  found  an  interesting  arrangement  by 
which  the  nerves  of  taste  are  brought  in  di- 
rect contact  with  dissolved  particles  of  food. 
It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  food  must  be 
finely  divided  in  order  that  such  contact  may 


46       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

be  made.  These  extraordinarily  sensitive  taste 
nerves  detect  the  special  properties  of  food, 
and  when  stimulated,  arouse  the  activity  of 
the  nerve-centers  in  the  brain,  so  called 
"psychic  centers,"  and  send  messages  to  the 
stomach,  in  response  to  which  the  gastric 
glands  produce  "appetite  juice." 

The  amount  of  appetite  juice  depends 
upon  the  extent  to  which  the  gustatory  nerves 
are  stimulated,  and  this  depends  wholly  upon 
the  thoroughness  with  which  the  food  is  masti- 
cated, for  the  flavor  of  the  food  cannot  be  de- 
tected by  the  gustatory  nerves  unless  the  food 
has  been  dissolved.  The  sweetness  of  a  lump 
of  sugar,  for  instance,  cannot  be  appreciated 
until  the  sugar  has  been  brought  into  solution. 

Nature  has  given  to  the  various  natural 
foods  just  the  flavors  required  to  stimulate 
the  gustatory  nerve  sufficiently  to  cause  the 
production  of  the  proper  quantity  and  qual- 
ity of  gastric  juice  required  to  digest  the 
food.  In  other  words,  when  the  food  is  swal- 
lowed in  masses,  as  one  might  swallow  pills 
or  capsules,  the  flavors  are  swallowed  with  it, 
and  the  gustatory  nerve  has  no  opportunity 
to  inspect  and  become  acquainted  with  the 
food;  the  stomach,  accordingly,  receives  no  in- 


THE  TEN  GATES  47 

timation  of  what  sort  of  food  is  coming,  and 
is  unprepared  to  receive  it. 

3.  Still  another  function  of  the  inspector's 
gate  is  to  regulate  the  quality  of  food.  Our 
food  is  a  complicated  substance.  It  consists 
of  combinations  in  various  proportions  of 
proteins,  fats,  and  carbohydrates,  together 
with  flavoring  materials  and  various  mineral 
salts,  which,  while  essential,  play  a  minor 
part  in  nutrition.  The  proportion  of  these 
food  elements  is  constantly  varying,  even  in 
foodstuffs  similar  in  character;  for  example, 
wheat  flour  consists  chiefly  of  gluten,  protein, 
and  starch  (a  carbohydrate),  but  no  two 
flours  contain  the  same  proportion  of  gluten 
and  starch,  and  so  every  loaf  of  bread  differs 
from  every  other  loaf.  Chemists  can  make 
an  analysis  by  which  the  composition  of  every 
foodstuff  or  every  particular  particle  of  food 
may  be  exactly  known,  but  such  an  analysis 
could  not  be  made  for  every  meal. 

The  body  requires  a  more  reliable  guide 
than  can  be  afforded  by  the  chemical  labor- 
atory, or  the  most  exact  dietetic  knowledge, 
and  so  we  find  that  so  long  as  an  animal  sub- 
sists upon  those  articles  of  food  which  are 
natural  to  it  and  normally  adapted  to  its  di- 


48       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

gestive  organs  and  constitution,  the  gustatory 
nerves,  cooperating  with  Food  Gate  No.  2,  are 
able  to  meet  the  nutritive  needs  of  the  body 
in  a  manner  incomparably  better  than  could 
be  done  by  the  most  astute  dietitian. 

When  the  food  is  swallowed  in  haste  with- 
out thorough  mastication,  there  is  no  oppor- 
tunity for  regulation.  Regulation  is,  indeed, 
impossible.  When,  however,  the  food  is  mas- 
ticated thoroughly  so  that  the  gustatory 
nerves  have  an  opportunity  to  inspect  every 
particle  of  food,  then  regulation  will  be  most 
complete.  One  who  uses  his  palate  gate  nor- 
mally, eating  natural  food  and  chewing  it  so 
thoroughly  that  it  may  be  completely  tasted 
before  it  is  swallowed,  does  not  need  to  as- 
certain by  means  of  scales  or  chemical 
analysis  how  much  fat  or  protein  or  carbo- 
hydrates he  is  taking  at  a  meal.  He  can  de- 
pend with  confidence  upon  the  efficiency  of 
automatic  regulation  through  his  gustatory 
nerves. 

The  inspector's  gate  should  be  given  a 
chance  to  examine  the  foodstuffs  and  its  man- 
dates should  be  obeyed. 

When  the  food  has  been  properly  chewed, 
that  is,  brought  to  a  soft,  liquid  consistency, 


THE  TEN  GATES  49 

it  slips  by  the  food  inspector's  gate  so  easily 
that  it  appears  to  be  swallowed  automatically 
and  without  effort. 

The  nerves  of  the  soft  palate  seem  to  pos- 
sess extraordinary  wisdom  in  relation  to  the 
needs  of  the  body  and  not  only  observe  the 
way  in  which  the  food  has  been  chewed,  but 
also  its  various  dietetic  properties,  and  in  a 
marvelously  efficient  way  cater  to  the  real 
needs  of  the  body.  By  this  means  the  in- 
spector gate  becomes,  to  a  very  large  degree, 
the  regulator  of  the  body's  nutrition. 

FOOD   GATE  NO.  3 

The  Food  and  Water  Gate 

There  are  at  the  back  of  the  throat  two 
gates,  one,  the  epiglottis  or  air  gate,  which 
controls  the  passage  of  air  to  the  lungs  and 
excludes  water  or  solid  substances;  a  second 
gate  which  closes  the  upper  end  of  the 
esophagus  or  gullet  and  only  opens  for  the 
passage  of  food  and  drink  in  swallowing,  and 
excludes  air  from  the  stomach. 

The  food  and  water  gate  is  formed  by  the 
pressure  of  the  larynx  against  the  gullet, 
compressing    it    against    the    spinal    column. 


50       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

The  gate  is  opened  by  the  act  of  swallowing. 
This  act  is  normally  executed  only  when  food 
or  drink  are  brought  in  contact  with  the  mu- 
cous membrane  of  the  back  of  the  throat. 
Foreign  or  obnoxious  substances  provoke 
gagging,  coughing,  or  choking,  by  which  the 
objectional  matters  are  ejected.  The  food 
and  water  gate  refuses  to  open  to  receive 
them  unless  forced  to  do  so  by  a  violent  effort. 

This  gate  thus  affords  important  and  in- 
telligent protection  against  injury  from  for- 
eign substances  not  intended  by  nature  to  be 
taken  into  the  body.  The  protest  of  the  gate 
is  so  strong  that  sometimes  vomiting  may 
be  induced.  Tickling  the  throat  with  the  fin- 
ger or  a  feather  is  a  common  means  of  pro- 
voking vomiting  when  it  is  desirable  to  empty 
the  stomach. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  readiness  with 
which  wholesome  foods  and  drinks  are  re- 
ceived is  quite  remarkable.  A  partial 
vacuum  is  maintained  in  the  gullet  just  within 
the  gate,  by  the  elasticity  of  the  lungs,  so  that 
the  instant  it  is  opened  by  the  act  of  swallow- 
ing which  lifts  the  larynx  forward  and  up- 
ward and  so  removes  the  pressure  on  the  gul- 
let, the  food  is  drawn  in  instantly  by  the  sue- 


THE  TEN  GATES  51 

tion,  and  with  so  much  force  that  it  is  some- 
times carried  nearly  to  the  lower  end  of  the 
gullet.  This  remarkable  arrangement  ac- 
counts for  the  suddenness,  often  very  sur- 
prizing, with  which  substances  which  reach 
the  back  of  the  throat  are  sometimes  snatched 
away  from  voluntary  control,  and  even  when 
imperfectly  masticated,  so  that  more  or  less 
distress  may  be  felt  as  the  mass  is  slowly 
passed  along  the  gullet  to  the  stomach. 

The  act  of  breathing  is  always  arrested 
during  the  swallowing  of  food  or  liquid,  this 
being  necessary  not  only  for  the  protection 
of  the  lungs,  but  also  to  prevent  the  entrance 
of  air  into  the  stomach  with  the  food,  since 
the  opening  of  the  esophageal  gate  permits 
the  suction  effect  to  operate  through  the  esoph- 
agus as  well  as  through  the  larynx.  If  the 
breath  is  strongly  drawn  in  at  the  same  time 
the  gate  is  opened  by  swallowing,  air  may  be 
drawn  into  the  esophagus.  After  the  gate  is 
again  closed,  the  air  taken  into  the  esophagus 
is  gradually  forced  into  the  stomach,  into 
which  it  enters  with  a  characteristic  sound, 
which  is  usually  audible  at  a  distance  of  some 
feet. 

Nervous     persons     suffering     from     dis- 


52       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

ordered  digestion  often  acquire  the  habit  of 
pumping  air  into  the  stomach  in  this  way,  a 
symptom  technically  termed  "aerophagy." 
Horses  often  acquire  this  habit  and  in  farm 
parlance  are  called  "cribbers,"  "wind  suckers," 
or  "stump  suckers,"  for  the  reason  that  they 
forcibly  seize  some  object  with  the  teeth  when 
swallowing  air. 

Air  swallowing  is  somewhat  akin  to  hic- 
cough, but  it  is  more  subject  to  voluntary  con- 
trol than  is  hiccough.  It  is  induced  by  a  feel- 
ing of  fullness  in  the  stomach  which  is  mis- 
taken for  an  accumulation  of  gas,  whereas  it 
is  an  irritation  often  due  to  excessive  acidity 
of  the  gastric  secretions.  Temporary  relief 
is  obtained  by  forcing  air  into  the  stomach, 
but  soon  the  stomach  becomes  distended  and 
then  belching  occurs,  which  confirms  the  idea 
that  the  trouble  is  due  to  "gas  on  the  stom- 
ach," whereas  there  is  usually  no  considerable 
amount  of  gas  in  the  stomach  until  air  has 
been  swallowed. 

The  disposition  to  swallow  air  should  be 
restrained. 

When  the  unpleasant  sensation  is  experi- 
enced, the  mouth  should  be  held  widely  open 
while  ten  deep  breaths  are  taken.     It  is  also 


THE  TEN  GATES  53 

well  to  drink  a  glassful  of  hot  water.  The 
symptom  is  often  due  to  hyperacidity  from 
excessive  secretion  of  gastric  acid,  which 
should  be  relieved  by  the  proper  measures. 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  4 

The  Stomach  Gate 

At  the  lower  end  of  the  gullet  is  a  circular 
muscle  which  surrounds  the  tube  and  tightly 
closes  the  gullet  after  food  has  passed  through 
it  into  the  stomach.  When  food  coming 
down  the  gullet  approaches  the  stomach  gate, 
the  muscle  relaxes;  that  is,  the  gate  opens  to 
allow  the  food  to  pass  into  the  stomach,  then 
instantly  closes. 

This  circular  muscle  sometimes  becomes 
relaxed  to  such  a  degree  that  portions  of  food 
may  be  forced  back  into  the  esophagus  by 
movements  of  the  stomach,  and  thus  find  their 
way  back  to  the  mouth.  This  usually  happens 
when  the  contents  of  the  stomach  are  too 
highly  acid,  because  of  the  excessive  secretion 
of  hydrochloric  acid  by  the  gastric  glands.  In 
some  persons  the  muscle  appears  to  be  weak- 
ened and  relaxed  through  the  habit  of  drink- 


54       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

ing  large  quantities  of  warm  water,  which 
produce  nausea  and  regurgitation,  or  even  by 
vomiting  as  the  result  of  tickling  the  throat 
with  the  finger  or  a  feather. 

Eructations  of  gas  from  the  stomach  are 
usually  due  to  the  fact  that  the  cardiac  orifice, 
or  upper  stomach  gate,  is  not  sufiiciently 
strong  to  resist  the  violent  movements  of  the 
stomach  induced  by  an  excess  of  acid  in  the 
stomach  and  resulting  too  tight  closure  of 
the  pylorus.  When  the  stomach  is  in  a  state 
of  inflammation,  and  ulceration  exists  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  stomach,  this  gate  becomes 
abnormally  sensitive  and  pain  is  experienced 
after  the  swallowing  of  food  or  drink,  due  to 
the  passage  of  the  food  over  the  irritated  sur- 
faces. 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  5 

The  Bowel  Gate — the  Pylorus 

This  is  a  most  remarkable  structure.  It 
consists  of  a  circular  muscle  which  surrounds 
the  food  tube  at  the  point  of  junction  between 
the  stomach  and  the  small  intestine.  From 
the  most  ancient  times  some  knowledge  of  the 
function  of  the  pylorus  has  existed,  hence  its 


THE  TEN  GATES  55 

Greek  name,  which  translated  into  English  is 
simply  gate  keeper. 

This,  of  all  the  gateways  through  which 
the  food  passes,  has  been  the  subject  of  the 
greatest  amount  of  study,  but  it  is  only  within 
recent  years  that  the  function  of  the  pylorus 
has  been  properly  understood. 

The  pylorus  inspects  the  digesting  food 
stuffs,  opening  at  proper  intervals  to  allow 
the  passage  into  the  bowel  of  such  portions 
of  the  food  as  have  been  prepared  by  the 
stomach  for  the  more  complete  digestion  in 
the  small  intestine. 

A  very  interesting  point  about  this  gate 
is  the  manner  of  its  closing  or  control.  When 
the  stomach  is  empty,  the  gate  remains  open. 
This  is  also  true  in  cases  in  which  the  stom- 
ach has  through  disease  lost  the  power  of 
making  gastric  juice,  so-called  cases  of 
achylia. 

Water  or  other  liquids  with  a  tempera- 
ture near  that  of  the  body  when  taken  into 
the  stomach  quickly  flow  out  through  the  py- 
lorus into  the  intestine.  The  normal  position 
of  the  stomach  is  known  to  be  perpendicular, 
obviously  to  facilitate  the  downward  move- 
ment of  the  liquid  contents. 


56       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

When,  however,  food  is  taken  into  the 
stomach,  even  while  it  is  still  undergoing  mas- 
tication in  the  mouth,  the  acid  gastric  juice 
entering  the  duodenum  causes  the  pylorus 
to  contract.  This  closure  of  the  lower  food 
gate  is  necessary  to  cause  the  retention  of 
the  food  in  the  stomach  until  it  has  been 
acted  upon  by  the  saliva  and  gastric  juice, 
and  thus  prepared  for  the  digestive  processes 
which  later  on  take  place  along  the  alimen- 
tary canal  at  certain  intervals. 

In  normal  persons,  when  the  acid  contents 
of  the  stomach  begin  to  pass  out  into  the 
small  intestine,  a  reflex  action  occurs  which 
closes  the  pylorus.  The  contact  of  the  acid 
with  the  mucous  membrance  causes  contrac- 
tion and  closure  of  the  pylorus  which  con- 
tinues until  the  gastric  acid  has  been  neutral- 
ized by  the  alkaline  bile  and  pancreatic  juice, 
then  the  pylorus  relaxes  and  lets  out  into  the 
intestine  another  small  quantity  of  gastric 
contents. 

By  this  wonderful  arrangement  the  food 
which  has  undergone  digestion  in  the  stomach 
is  doled  out  into  the  intestine  in  very  small  por- 
tions, a  provision  entirely  in  harmony  with  the 
now  known  fact  that  this  function  is  chiefly 


THE  TEN  GATES  57 

preparatory,  the  complete  and  finished  work 
of  digestion  being  accomplished  only  in  the 
intestine. 

The  stomach  was  formerly  supposed  to  be 
the  chief  organ  of  digestion.  It  is  now  known 
that  this  idea  was  erroneous.  The  stomach  is 
a  highly  useful  organ,  but  not  essential.  In 
many  cases  practically  the  whole  stomach  has 
been  removed  in  cases  of  cancer  involving  a 
large  part  of  the  organ,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  persons  have  lived  in  this  condi- 
tion for  years  in  comfortable  health. 

Numerous  digestive  disorders  may  be 
traced  to  the  pyloric  gate,  through  which  all 
foodstuffs  must  pass  before  they  can  take 
part  in  the  nutrition  of  the  body.  When  the 
contents  of  the  stomach  become  excessively 
acid,  the  pylorus  contracts  so  forcibly  that  the 
digested  portions  of  the  food  are  not  passed 
on,  but  are  retained  in  the  stomach.  This  is 
a  difficulty  which  serves  to  aggravate  itself. 
A  vicious  circle  is  formed.  The  excessive 
acidity  of  the  gastric  contents  causes  too  long 
a  retention  of  the  foodstuffs  in  the  stomach, 
and  the  long  delay  of  food  in  the  stomach 
irritates  the  gastric  glands,  causing  an  ab- 
normal secretion  of  acid.    Thus,  the  difliculty 


58       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

once  begun  tends  to  become  worse.  The 
stomach  muscles  contract  with  increased  vigor 
as  the  acidity  increases,  and  not  infrequently 
the  movements  become  so  violent  that  a  por- 
tion of  the  acid  contents  of  the  stomach  is 
forced  upward  through  the  esophagus  into 
the  mouth,  giving  rise  to  eructations  of  gas, 
and  even  liquid  or  solid  food  materials,  ac- 
companied by  a  burning  pain.  Here  we 
have  the  explanation  of  so-called  "heartburn," 
(which  has  been  erroneously  attributed  to  fer- 
mentation in  the  stomach — a  rare  condition. 
There  are  thus  many  causes  which  may 
disturb  the  passage  of  food  through  the  py- 
loric gate,  all  of  which  give  rise  to  serious  dis- 
turbances of  the  digestive  processes.  Many 
chronic  dyspeptics  suffer  from  some  of  these 
conditions,  which,  however,  in  most  cases  can- 
not be  remedied  by  the  use  of  drugs  or  in- 
ternal remedies  of  any  sort,  since  the  obstruc- 
tion is  due  to  spasm  of  the  pylorus,  the  result 
of  excessive  acid  secretion  by  the  stomach. 
Regulation  of  the  diet  and  other  proper  modes 
of  treatment  will  almost  certainly  give  relief. 
In  cases  in  which  the  stomach  is  prolapsed, 
the  restoration  of  the  stomach  to  its  normal 
place,  and  the  use  of  a  suitable  bandage  will 


THE  TEN  GATES  59 

often  secure  very  great  improvement.  It  is 
not  possible  to  say  in  many  cases  just  which 
one  of  various  causes  exists,  without  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  stomach  by  means  of 
a  test  meal  and  careful  chemical  examination 
of  gastric  contents,  together  with  an  X-ray 
bismuth  meal  examination,  by  means  of  which 
the  stomach  may  be  clearly  outlined  and  its 
movements,  together  with  its  location  and  the 
action  of  the  pylorus,  clearly  seen. 

X-ray  examinations  have  clearly  estab- 
lished the  fact  that  in  a  great  number  of  cases, 
distress  and  other  symptoms  attributed  to  the 
stomach  are  due  to  causes  outside  of  the  stom- 
ach altogether.  For  example,  gall  stones,  in- 
flammation of  the  gallbladder,  ulcer  of  the 
duodenum,  and  inflammation  of  the  pancreas, 
and  even  infection  of  the  appendix  and  colitis, 
often  give  rise  to  gastric  pain  and  other  dis- 
turbances of  the  stomach.  These  extrinsic  dis- 
orders constitute  possibly  one-half  of  all  gas- 
tric cases.  These  cases  are,  in  fact,  so  common, 
it  may  be  regarded  as  a  very  wise  and  helpful 
procedure  to  submit  every  case  of  chronic  gas- 
tric disease  to  a  critical  X-ray  examination  by 
the  aid  of  the  "barium  meal,"  in  addition  to 
the  ordinary  gastric  test  meal. 


60       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

One  of  the  functions  of  the  acid  gastric 
juice  is  to  cause  closure  of  the  pylorus  and 
regulation  of  the  action  of  this  remarkable 
structure  in  "spooning"  the  food  from  the 
stomach  into  the  intestine.  In  cases  in  which 
the  gastric  glands  have  degenerated  so  that 
no  hydrochloric  acid  is  produced,  the  pylorus 
remains  open.  In  cancer  of  the  stomach  and 
in  certain  cases  of  ulceration  of  the  stomach, 
the  disease  may  be  located  in  such  a  position  as 
to  prevent  the  normal  closure  of  the  pylorus. 
Similar  conditions  are  sometimes  produced 
by  adhesions  of  the  pylorus  to  the  liver  or  gall 
bladder,  a  result  of  inflammation  of  the  gall 
ducts  or  gall  bladder. 

A  relaxed  condition  of  the  pylorus  gate 
that  prevents  its  proper  closure  may  be  a 
cause  of  serious  disturbance.  When  this  con- 
dition is  present,  bile  frequently  flows  back 
into  the  stomach,  especially  when  the  stomach 
is  prolapsed.  The  food  passes  out  of  the 
stomach  so  quickly  that  the  work  of  the  stom- 
ach upon  the  food  is  not  properly  performed, 
and  in  consequence  digestion  in  the  intestines 
is  deranged.  In  such  cases  a  movement  of  the 
bowels  sometimes  occurs  within  a  half  hour 
after  eating,  discharging  food  of  the  last  meal. 


THE  TEN  GATES  61 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  6 

The  Food  Control  Gate — The 
Ileocecal  Sphincter 

A  muscular  ring  much  like  the  pylorus 
surrounds  the  lower  end  of  the  small  intestine. 
This  structure,  the  ileocecal  sphincter,  per- 
forms very  much  the  same  function  as  the  py- 
lorus. The  pylorus  holds  the  food  in  the 
stomach  until  gastric  digestion  is  completed 
and  the  food  prepared  for  intestinal  digestion. 
The  ileocecal  sphincter  holds  the  food  in  the 
small  intestine  until  the  work  of  digestion  is 
completed  and  the  digested  food  stuffs  ab- 
sorbed. The  matters  passed  into  the  colon  by 
the  sphincter  are  the  undigested  and  unused 
or  unusable  food  remnants  and  wastes,  along 
with  a  considerable  amount  of  water  (90%) 
and  very  small  amounts  of  digested  or  partly 
digested  foodstuffs,  with  mucus  and  certain 
excretory  substances  eliminated  by  the  liver 
in  the  bile,  and  by  the  intestinal  mucous  mem- 
brane. 

If  this  gate  did  not  exist,  the  liquid  food 
stuffs  which  leave  the  stomach  would  pass 
rapidly   through   the    whole   food   tube    and 


62       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST      ' 

would  be  discharged  before  opportunity  had 
been  given  for  absorption. 

The  intelligent  and  efficient  regulation  of 
the  flow  of  waste  matters  into  the  colon,  is 
highly  essential  for  the  proper  nutrition  of  the 
body  and  render  this  little  muscle  wholly  de- 
serving of  the  very  honorable  title  of  food  con- 
troller or  control  gate. 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  7. 

The  Colon  Gate  or  the  Ileocecal  Valve. 

This  is  a  very  simple  and  at  the  same  time 
an  exceedingly  important  and  interesting 
structure.  The  ileocecal  valve  was  discovered 
and  described  by  anatomists  more  than  300 
years  ago  (1579  A.  D.).  The  discoverers  rec- 
ognized at  once  the  fact  that  this  curious 
structure  was  designed  to  act  as  a  check  valve, 
that  is,  a  gate  opening  in  but  one  direction. 

Modern  anatomical  studies  have  shown  that 
all  animals  possessed  of  a  backbone,  that  is, 
all  vertebrate  animals,  are  furnished  with  an 
ileocecal  valve. 

This  gate  is  necessary  for  two  highly  im- 
portant reasons.  First,  to  maintain  a  definite 
and  steady  forward  movement  of  the  intes- 


THE  TEN  GATES  63 

tinal  contents;  and  second,  to  prevent  the  re- 
turn into  the  small  intestine  of  waste  and 
excretory  matters  after  they  have  been  re- 
jected by  the  small  intestine  and  pushed  into 
the  colon  to  be  cast  out  of  the  body  as  refuse. 

The  importance  of  this  wise  provision  of 
nature  grows  out  of  the  fact  that  the  waste 
matters  passed  into  the  colon  very  readily 
take  on  putrefactive  processes  and  thus  be- 
come highly  offensive  and  poisonous. 

The  colon  is  provided  with  means  of  de- 
fense against  these  poisons  and  is  thus  pre- 
pared to  serve  the  purpose  of  a  sewer  for  the 
body  without  serious  injury  either  to  itself 
or  the  body.  But  this  is  not  true  of  the  small 
intestine  with  its  highly  delicate  mucous  mem- 
brane and  exceedingly  active  absorbing 
structures.  The  result,  in  fact,  when  foul, 
putrefying  fecal  matters  enter  the  small  in- 
testine from  the  colon,  is  not  much  different 
from  what  might  be  expected  if  feces  were 
mixed  with  the  food  and  taken  in  by  the 
mouth.  The  small  intestine  not  only  rapidly 
absorbs  the  poisonous  matters  but  becomes  in- 
fected by  the  virulent  bacteria  which  are 
present. 

The    infection    travels    upward    and   may 


64       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

reach  the  gall  bladder,  causing  inflammation 
and  gall-stones  or  disease  of  the  pancreas  and 
may  cause  ulcer  of  the  stomach  or  duodenum. 

More  common  results  of  the  entrance  of 
fecal  matters  into  the  small  intestine  are  at- 
tacks of  headache,  skin  eruptions,  depression, 
nervous  exhaustion,  asthmatic  attacks,  so- 
called  "bilious"  attacks,  a  coated  tongue  and 
bad  breath  and  probably  chronic  disease  of 
the  bloodvessels,  heart,  kidneys  and  other  vital 
organs. 

All  these  and  other  troubles  follow  when 
the  colon  gate  fails  to  shut  through  becom- 
ing incompetent,  a  condition  which  often  re- 
sults from  chronic  constipation,  as  will  be 
shown  later  on. 

The  action  of  the  colon  gate  is  very 
simple.  It  is  in  fact  quite  mechanical  in  its 
action.  The  valve  consists  of  two  mem- 
branous lips  which  project  into  the  colon 
from  the  borders  of  the  junction  of  the  small 
intestine  with  the  colon.  When  matters  pass 
from  the  small  intestine  into  the  colon,  the 
lips  separate,  offering  no  resistance  to  the  for- 
ward movement.  But  when  the  slightest  back 
pressure  occurs  with  a  movement  of  matters 
toward  the  small  intestine,  the  lips  fall  to- 


THE  TEN  GATES  65 

gether  and  form  an  impassable  barrier.  In 
other  words,  the  colon  gate  is  highly  efficient 
as  a  check  valve. 

This  is  true,  however,  only  when  the 
valve  is  intact.  It  is  apparently  more  liable 
to  injury  and  derangement  than  any  other  of 
the  several  gates  which  regulate  the  move- 
ment of  material  along  the  food  tube.  When 
waste  matters  are  allowed  to  accumulate  in 
the  lower  half  of  the  colon,  which  occurs  in  all 
cases  of  constipation,  the  right  half  of  the 
colon  is  over-filled  with  feces  and  over-dis- 
tended with  gases,  and  the  caecum  in  time  be- 
comes dilated  and  pouched  and  the  colon  gate 
is  so  damaged  that  it  does  not  close. 

The  foul  fecal  matters  in  the  colon  pass 
back  into  the  small  intestine  and  all  the  seri- 
ous consequences  which  have  been  traced  to 
autointoxication  or  intestinal  toxemia  are  the 
natural  consequence. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  more  human  suf- 
fering, physical  and  mental,  has  resulted  from 
the  breaking  down  of  the  colon  gate  than 
from  any  other  common  injury. 

The  chief  cause  of  injury  to  the  colon  gate 
is  constipation,  a  disease  which  is  practically 
universal  among  civilized  human  beings,  and 


66   THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

equally  universal  among  house  dogs.  "House- 
broken"  dogs  are  usually  constipated,  and  for 
the  same  reason  as  their  house-broken  masters, 
viz.,  voluntary  interference  with  the  normal, 
rhythmical  and  automatic  action  of  the  food 
tube  b}^  which  its  contents  are  moved  along 
and  unusable  residues  rejected.  More  will 
be  said  on  this  phase  of  the  subject  later. 

By  appropriate  diet  and  treatment,  the 
evil  effects  of  incompetency  of  the  ileocecal 
valve  may  be  very  largely  overcome  and  a 
radical  cure  may  be  effected  by  means  of  a 
simple  and  safe  but  somewhat  delicate  opera- 
tion. 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  8 

The  Reversing  Gate 

Near  the  middle  of  the  transverse  colon 
there  is  located  a  remarkable  structure  which 
originates  rhythmical  movements  in  the  intes- 
tine just  as  a  similar  nerve  structure  near  the 
heart  produces  the  regular  beating  of  the 
heart. 

A  most  remarkable  characteristic  of  the 
movements  starting  at  the  middle  of  the 
transverse  colon  is  the  fact  that  they  extend 


THE  TEN  GATES  67 

in  both  directions.  That  is,  a  series  of  con- 
traction waves  moves  forward  toward  the 
exit  while  another  series  moves  at  the  same 
time  in  the  opposite  direction,  toward  the 
C£ecum.  These  latter,  known  as  antiperistal- 
tic waves,  hold  the  liquid  wastes  in  the  caecum 
until  a  large  part  of  the  water  which  they 
contain  has  been  absorbed.  This  reduces  the 
volume  of  the  feces  and  secures  periodical 
emptying  of  the  colon  instead  of  continuous 
or  very  frequent  discharge  of  the  thin  liquid 
matters  which  enter  the  colon  from  the  small 
intestine. 

At  intervals  the  antiperistaltic  waves  cease 
and  the  contents  of  the  csecum  and  ascending 
colon  are  pushed  forward  by  strong  contrac- 
tions of  the  cgecum.  That  portion  which 
reaches  a  point  far  enough  beyond  the  center 
of  the  transverse  colon  to  be  caught  in  the  out- 
going current  is  carried  on  to  the  exit;  but  a 
considerable  portion  does  not  reach  this  point 
and  is  swept  back  into  the  caecum  by  the  anti- 
peristaltic waves. 

The  action  of  the  antiperistaltic  waves 
brings  pressure  against  the  colon  gate,  the 
ileocecal  valve.  A  normal  valve  easily  resists 
the  pressure  and  prevents  the  antiperistaltic 


68       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

waves  from  forcing  fecal  matters  back  into 
the  small  intestine.  But  when  the  valve  has 
been  broken  down  and  rendered  incompetent 
by  chronic  constipation,  nothing  hinders  the 
reflux  into  the  small  intestine  produced  by  the 
antiperistaltic  contractions  which  are  almost 
constantly  active  in  the  right  half  of  the  colon, 
especially  during  and  for  some  time  after  a 
meal. 

When  fecal  matters  accumulate  in  the 
lower  half  of  the  colon,  the  antiperistaltic  ac- 
tion is  much  increased.  This  is  also  true  in 
case  of  colitis  and  after  the  use  of  laxative 
or  cathartic  drugs. 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  9 

The  Discharging  or  Ejector  Gate 
— The  Pelvic  Colon 

Here  is  another  most  interesting  gate 
which  is  charged  with  a  highly  important 
function,  the  periodical  discharge  of  the  food 
residues  and  other  wastes. 

The  Pelvic  Colon  is  the  loop  of  the  large 
intestine  which  joins  the  rectum.  It  is  not 
closely  attached  to  the  abdominal  wall  as  are 
the  descending  and  the  ihac  colon,  but  has  a 


THE  TEN  GATES  69 

long  mesentery  (the  membrane  by  which  it 
is  attached  to  the  back  of  the  abdominal  cav- 
ity). This  arrangement  permits  considerable 
freedom  of  movement.  The  bowel  falls  down 
collapsed  after  a  bowel  movement,  then 
gradually  rises  as  it  fills  and  when  sufficiently 
distended  pushes  some  of  its  contents  into 
the  rectum  and  so  evokes  the  act  of  defecation. 
In  this  way  the  pelvic  colon  operates  a 
periodical  discharging  process,  an  automatic 
"dumping"  or  ejection  of  the  body  wastes, 
and  so  may  be  very  properly  termed  the  dis- 
charging or  ejector  gate.  As  we  shall  see 
later,  this  important  gate  is  sometimes 
crippled  so  that  it  does  not  operate  efficiently. 
When  fallen  down  after  defecation,  it  be- 
comes caught  and  may  even  become  adherent 
so  that  it  cannot  rise  and  thus  the  discharg- 
ing apparatus  of  the  colon  is  thrown  out  of 
commission  and  a  very  obstinate  form  of  con- 
stipation is  the  result.  Fortunately  the  diffi- 
culty may  be  radically  remedied  by  an  appro- 
priate surgical  operation.  In  most  cases  pal- 
liative measures  give  practical  relief. 


70       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

FOOD  GATE  NO.  10 

The  Exit  Gate — the  Anus 

The  anal  sphincter  is  controlled  by  nerve 
centers  which  maintain  it  in  a  state  of  con- 
stant contraction  except  during  bowel  move- 
ment. When  an  expulsion  wave  travels  down 
the  pelvic  colon,  the  center  controlling  the 
anal  sphincter  causes  it  to  relax  so  that  it 
offers  no  resistance  to  the  discharge  of  the 
bowel  contents. 

The  presence  of  hemorrhoids,  ulcer,  fis- 
sure, catarrh  of  the  rectum,  and  other  causes 
may  so  irritate  the  anal  muscle  that  it  will 
contract  with  too  great  vigor,  or  even  spasm 
may  be  produced,  and  thus  a  "tight  sphincter" 
may  become  a  cause  of  constipation  by  closing 
the  exit  gate  so  tightly  that  it  will  not  open 
under  the  stimulus  of  the  normal  reflex.  It 
is  possible  that  ovarian,  bladder,  prostatic 
and  other  pelvic  disorders  may  cause  anal 
contraction  and  so  oppose  normal  bowel 
movement. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN" 
COLON 

We  are  all  born  wild. 

Civilization  is  a  process  of  taming  and  is 
often  so  overdone  as  to  become  destructive. 

No  other  animal  except  the  house-dog  suf- 
fers from  constipation  as  does  man;  and  the 
dog  suffers  from  colon  troubles  for  the  same 
reason  the  man  does,  namely,  because  he  is 
"house-broken." 

The  wild  man  and  the  wild  dog,  as  well  as 
man's  nearest  relatives,  the  big  apes,  of  the 
African  jungles,  know  nothing  of  the  miseries 
of  constipation,  colon  stasis,  or  constipation, 
a  product  of  civilization.  It  is  the  result 
of  perverted  habits,  neglect,  and  pernicious 
training  and  education. 

The  civilized  colon  is  a  poor  cripple, 
maimed,  misshapen,  overstretched  in  parts, 
contracted  in  other  parts,  prolapsed,  ad- 
herent, "kinked,"  infected,  paralyzed,  ineffi- 
cient, incompetent.  It  is  the  worst  abused 
and  the  most  variously  damaged  of  any  organ 
of  the  body. 

Before  the  advent  of  the  X-ray,  no  one 


72       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

had  more  than  a  suspicion  of  the  sad  condition 
of  the  poor  colon.  It  was  known  to  be  gen- 
erally inefficient,  but  this  was  charged  to  in- 
ertia, a  sort  of  constitutional  laziness  rather 
than  to  definite  disease  or  structural  damage. 

But  the  X-ray,  that  marvelous  revealer 
of  secrets,  has  given  us  a  look  inside  and  has 
revealed  a  state  of  depravity  in  the  colon 
never  dreamed  of.  In  the  light  of  modern 
X-ray  revelations,  the  colon  appears  to  have 
more  different  and  serious  things  the  matter 
with  it  than  any  other  bodily  organ. 

Now  that  the  X-ray  has  made  clear  to  us 
the  physiology  of  the  colon  and  has  shown  us 
the  numerous  deformities  and  incompetences 
of  the  average  civilized  colon,  thanks  to  the 
exhaustive  studies  of  Cannon,  Hirsch,  Case, 
and  other  roentgenologists,  we  have  come  to 
know  that  constipation  is  not  a  simple  disease 
but  is  instead,  a  highly  complex  condition  or 
rather  a  symptom  which  may  result  from  a 
very  considerable  number  of  clearly  defined 
diseased  conditions  and  combinations  of  con- 
ditions. 


8:00-9:00  A.  M. 
Breakfast  (blue)   just  Eaten. 


r 


12:00  Noon 

Breakfast  (blue),  four  hours  after  eating,  has  reached 
lower  end  of  small  intestine  and  ileocecal  sphincter.  Diges- 
tion and  absorption  of  food  are  completed,  and  the  unusable 
residue  is  ready  to  be  passed  into  the  colon. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  73 

Normal  Bowel  Action 

Evacuation  of  the  bowels  is  the  result  of 
two  forces  acting  upon  the  bowel  contents, 
viz.: 

(1  Compression  of  the  bowels  by  the  ab- 
dominal walls  and  the  diaphragm. 

(2)      Contraction  of  the  bowel  itself. 

In  natural  bowel  movement  the  squatting 
position  is  assumed.  In  this  position  the 
pressure  of  the  thighs  upon  the  abdomen  com- 
presses the  bowel.  At  the  same  time  the  dia- 
phragm is  forced  downward  by  a  deep,  pro- 
longed breath  and  the  abdominal  muscles  are 
voluntarily  contracted. 

These  are  the  preliminary  movements 
which  precede  actual  evacuation.  They  often 
fail,  and  usually  do  in  cases  of  marked  con- 
stipation. Under  normal  conditions,  however, 
evacuation  quickly  follows  the  preliminary  ef- 
forts through  actions  set  up  by  the  defecating 
center.  When  the  voluntary  efforts  result  in 
forcing  fecal  matter  from  the  pelvic  colon  into 
the  rectum,  a  new  series  of  movements  begin. 
The  presence  of  feces  in  the  rectum  sets  up  a 
reflex  nerve  action  through  the  defecating 
center  by  which  the  abdominal  muscles  are 


74   THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

made  to  contract  with  greater  force,  the  colon 
itself  contracts  either  in  part  or  in  its  entirety, 
the  anus  relaxes,  and  finally  the  levator  ani,  a 
muscle  attached  to  the  rectal  walls,  contracts 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  insure  complete  empty- 
ing of  the  rectum. 

This  normal  bowel  movement  should  leave 
the  rectum  and  at  least  the  left  half  of  the 
colon,  completely  empty.  And  this  complete 
emptying  should  take  place  after  every  meal 
for  the  reason  that  after  each  meal  the  unused 
residues  of  the  preceding  meal  but  one,  are 
normally  deposited  in  the  pelvic  colon  ready 
to  be  dismissed  from  the  body.  That  is,  the 
discharge  gate  or  dumping  device  of  the  colon 
is  loaded  and  ought  to  be  "dumped."  There 
is  no  possible  benefit  to  be  derived  from  re- 
taining the  excretory  and  unusable  residues, 
and  if  retained  they  do  harm  through  the 
absorption  of  putrefaction  poisons  which  are 
thus  produced.  Besides,  these  wastes  are  the 
best  sort  of  soil  for  the  growth  of  highly  active 
pathological  or  disease-producing  species  of 
germs,  streptococci  and  other  pus  forming 
germs  which  attach  themselves  to  the  wall  of 
the  bowel  and  set  up  that  very  serious  and 
very  common  disease,  colitis. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  75 

HiNDEANCES  TO  NoRMAL  BoWEL  ACTION 

Now  that  we  know  how  the  bowels  should 
move,  let  us  see  what  causes  interfere  with 
normal  bowel  action,  that  is,  let  us  seek  an 
answer  to  the  question.  Why  is  the  civilized 
man  unable  to  evacuate  his  bowels  three  or 
four  times  daily  or  after  each  meal,  as  does 
the  savage  or  the  semi-civilized  man  and  our 
near  relatives  in  the  family  of  primates,  the 
orang  and  the  chimpanzee? 

There  are  many  causes,  chief  of  which, 
perhaps,  are  the  following,  referred  to  in  the 
order  in  which  they  operate  rather  than  their 
relative  importance: 

1.  The  Sitting  Posture:  The  savage 
evacuates  in  a  crouching  or  squatting  position. 
Semi-civilized  people  and  the  peasantry  of 
civilized  nations  do  the  same.  In  the  homes  of 
the  poor  classes  and  in  country  inns  and  even 
in  the  small  city  hotels  of  France  and  Italy,  as 
well  as  countries  farther  East,  the  toilet  con- 
veniences consist  simply  of  a  hole  in  the  floor 
and  a  large  pipe  connecting  it  with  a  recep- 
tacle below. 

The  toilet  seat  which  civilization  has  pro- 
vided  as   more   elegant   and   convenient,   has 


76       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

proved  to  be  a  prolific  cause  of  constipation 
with  all  its  miseries  and  inconveniences 
through  loss  of  the  thigh  pressure  against  the 
abdomen,  one  of  the  important  initial  efforts 
in  bowel  movement. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  return  to  the  primi- 
tive form  of  toilet  convenience,  but  toilet  seats 
should  be  low  and  should  have  a  backward 
slope.  An  efficient  remedy  for  the  defects  of 
the  ordinary  closet  seat  is  found  in  placing 
before  the  seat  a  stool  about  eight  inches  high 
to  support  the  feet. 

2.  Weak  Abdominal  Muscles:  A  seden- 
tary life,  general  lack  of  muscular  develop- 
ment, and  especially  the  "slumped"  or 
"stooped"  position  in  sitting  and  working,  re- 
sult in  a  weak  and  relaxed  condition  of  the 
abdominal  muscles  so  that  they  are  not  able 
to  do  their  part  in  pushing  forward  the  con- 
tents of  the  lower  colon  into  the  rectum  and 
thus  starting  the  automatic  process  by  which 
the  colon  itself  contracts  and  empties  itself. 
This  condition  is  practically  universal  among 
civilized  women  because  of  their  mode  of  dress 
and  deficient  muscular  activity.  Professional 
men,  clerks,  students,  bookkeepers  and  fac- 
tory workers  suffer  from  the  same  cause. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  77 

One  very  serious  result  of  weakness  of  the 
abdominal  muscles  is  the  prolapse  of  the 
colon,  stomach,  liver  and  other  heavy  organs 
of  the  abdomen.  While  it  is  true,  as  shown 
in  recent  years,  that  these  organs  are  able  to 
do  their  work  quite  efficiently  even  though 
prolapsed,  great  mischief  results  from  the  fact 
that  in  falling  they  drag  down  with  them  the 
diaphragm,  the  great  muscle  which  forms  the 
floor  of  the  chest  and  is  the  great  air  pump  of 
the  body.  In  doing  its  work  the  diaphragm 
rises  and  falls.  The  broader  its  swing  the 
greater  the  amount  of  air  moved. 

When  held  down  by  prolapsed  viscera,  the 
diaphragm  cannot  rise  high  into  the  chest  as 
it  should  and  consequently  the  lungs  cannot 
be  well  emptied. 

On  the  other  hand,  not  being  able  to  rise 
properly,  it  has  not  room  for  downward 
movement,  and  so  the  low-standing  diaphragm 
not  only  fails  to  fill  the  lungs  but  also  fails  to 
do  its  part  in  emptying  the  bowels.  So  per- 
sons with  weak  abdominal  muscles  easily  get 
out  of  breath  and  are  constipated. 

Weak  abdominal  muscles  may  be  made 
strong  by  such  exercises  as  raising  both  legs 
while  lying  on  the  back,  repeating  the  move- 


78   THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

ment  thirty  or  forty  times  morning  and  night. 
The  chest  must  be  held  high  so  as  to  keep  the 
abdominal  muscles  stretched  to  their  full 
length  and  thus  afford  them  an  opportunity 
for  action.  This  requires  constant  attention 
to  posture  when  at  work  and  the  use  of  a 
chair  which  properly  supports  the  hollow  of 
the  back  and  holds  the  chest  up  when  the  body 
is  relaxed. 

Deep  breathing,  wearing  a  spring  ab- 
dominal supporter,  exercises  with  the  head 
low  (inclined  plane  exercises)  and  the  use  of 
the  weighted  compress,  are  the  means  by 
which  this  cause  of  constipation  may  be  com- 
bated. 

Vigorous  bodily  exercises  of  all  sorts,  in- 
cluding walking,  and  especially  hill  climbing 
and  such  sports  as  golf,  volley  ball,  lawn  ten- 
nis, rowing  and  swimming,  are  excellent  aids 
to  bowel  action.  It  should  be  remarked,  how- 
ever, that  the  excessive  perspiration  produced 
by  vigorous  exercise  tends  to  cause  constipa- 
tion. 

The  importance  of  the  above  named  faulty 
habits  as  causes  of  constipation  will  be  appre- 
ciated only  when  it  is  remembered  that  in 
health  the  rectum  is  always  empty.    The  pel- 


r 


1 :00  P.  M. 

Breakfast   Residue    (Ijlue)    is   passinp   into   the   Colon 
Dinner   (red),  just  eaten,  is  in  the  Stomach. 


r 


5:00  P.  M. 

Breakfast  Residue  (blue)  all  in  Colon.    Dinner  iResidue  (red) 
Ready  to  enter  Colon. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  79 

vie  loop  which  lies  just  above  the  rectum  is  the 
end  of  the  colon  reservoir.  In  normal  de- 
fecation the  fecal  matters  are  pushed  for- 
ward from  the  colon  into  the  rectum  by  vol- 
untary effort.  When  this  fails,  the  feces  re- 
main in  the  colon  and  in  time  become  hard 
and  dry  by  the  absorption  of  moisture.  When 
this  stage  is  reached  the  feces  can  not  be 
pushed  along  my  compression  of  the  bowels 
and  an  enema  or  a  laxative  is  required  to 
empty  the  colon.  If  the  retention  and  drying 
is  less  prolonged,  the  result  is  the  so-called 
"well-formed  stool,"  which  is  positive  proof 
of  constipation  as  it  can  only  be  produced  by 
retention  and  drying  of  the  colon  contents. 
The  "well-formed  stool"  has  become  almost 
a  fetish  with  many  persons,  even  some  doctors. 
A  western  doctor  actually  advises  his  patients 
to  resist  a  disposition  to  bowel  movement  in 
the  evening,  "to  save  it  'till  morning"  so  as 
to  secure  a  well-formed  stool.  Such  notions 
are  based  upon  ignorance.  Nature's  sugges- 
tion of  the  need  of  bowel  movement  should 
never  be  resisted  or  thwarted  except  in  emer- 
gency and  when  unavoidable. 

3.     A   Concentrated  Diet:     The  human 
food  tube  is  adapted  to  a  rather  coarse  and 


80       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

bulky  diet,  less  coarse  and  bulky  than  that 
of  the  herbivorous  animals,  such  as  the  ox  and 
the  goat,  but  much  more  bulky  than  that  of 
the  dog,  cat  and  other  carnivora.  This  is 
shown  by  the  long  alimentary  canal  and  capa- 
cious colon.  The  intestine  of  the  sheep  is 
thirty  times  its  body  length,  that  of  the  cat 
only  three  and  a  half  times,  and  that  of  the 
shark  merely  the  length  of  the  body,  simply 
a  straight  tube  with  a  single  short  loop. 

.  The  human  food  tube  is  ten  times  the 
length  of  the  body,  and  the  colon  is  of  large 
proportions.  In  animals  the  diet  of  which  is 
very  concentrated,  the  colon  almost  disap- 
pears. 

Man  is  a  primate,  that  is  a  relative  of  the 
chimpanzee,  orang  and  gorilla.  These  ani- 
mals, like  man,  have  intestines  eight  to  ten 
times  the  body  length,  and  their  diet  consists 
of  bulky  food  stuffs,  nuts,  fruits,  tender 
shoots,  juicy  roots,  and  other  vegetable  foods. 
This  is  the  natural  diet  of  man,  the  diet  of 
his  primitive  ancestors. 

A  bulky  diet  of  this  sort  stimulates  the 
movements  of  the  intestine  and  so  moves  along 
so  rapidly  that  there  is  little  drying  out  and 
not  sufficient  time  for  putrefactive  changes. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  81 

Such  a  diet  also  insures  a  suiRcient  amount 
of  indigestible  material  to  distend  the  colon 
and  keep  its  several  gates  in  active  and  efficient 
operation. 

When  the  diet  is  concentrated,  leaving 
little  residue,  the  residue  packs  firmly  to- 
gether, adheres  to  the  intestine  wall,  gets 
caught  in  folds,  and  by  retention  becomes 
highly  putrescent  and  contaminates  the  blood. 

Another  still  more  serious  difficulty  arises. 
As  already  explained,  the  pelvic  loop,  the  dis- 
charging gate  of  the  colon,  collapses  and  falls 
down  in  the  pelvis  after  discharging  its  con- 
tents. The  pelvic  loop  remains  prolapsed  un- 
til it  is  lifted  by  filling.  If  it  does  not  fill  it 
does  not  rise  and  hence  does  not  discharge, 
and  the  bowels  do  not  move.  If  the  food  resi- 
dues are  so  small  that  two  days  are  required 
to  supply  material  enough  to  fill  the  pelvic 
loop,  then  the  bowel  movement  will  occur  only 
every  other  day.  A  water  wheel  will  not  turn 
without  water ;  the  colon  will  not  act  normally 
without  the  stimulus  of  roughage.  A  bulky 
food  residue  is  necessary  to  fill  and  raise  the 
pelvic  loop  so  that  it  can  discharge  its  contents. 

The  more  bulky  the  diet,  the  more  rapidly 
the  pelvic  colon  will  fill  and  the  more  fre- 


82       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

quently  the  bowels  will  move.  The  more  fre- 
quent the  movements,  the  less  putrefaction  and 
hence  the  less  autointoxication,  as  shown  by 
absence  of  headache,  depression,  coated  tongue, 
foul  breath,  dingy  complexion,  skin  troubles, 
chronic  weariness,  etc.,  etc. 

Cellulose  is  the  only  indigestible  element 
of  the  diet.  Cellulose  is  the  basis  of  wood; 
cotton  is  pure  cellulose.  Bran  consists  very 
largely  of  cellulose. 

Starch,  fat,  protein, — the  food  materials 
furnished  by  milk,  eggs,  meat,  fine  flour 
bread,  sugar,  potatoes,  and  most  of  the  break- 
fast foods,  are  completely  digestible  and  ab- 
sorbable. They  disappear  in  the  small  intes- 
tine leaving  no  residue  to  fill  and  distend  the 
colon  and  stimulate  it  to  action.  The  small 
residues  from  such  foods  fail  to  fill  the  pelvic 
colon  often  enough  to  maintain  frequent  bowel 
action. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  we  have  but  one 
alternative;  we  must  choose  our  bills  of 
fare  from  the  coarse  products  on  which  our 
primitive  ancestors  subsisted  and  on  which 
our  forest  cousins  still  live,  or  we  must  add  to 
our  ordinary  diet  sufiicient  indigestible  cellu- 
lose to  supply  the  bulk  required. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  83 

Convenient  forms  of  cellulose  are  bran 
and  agar-agar,  or  Japanese  isinglass,  a  pe- 
culiar form  of  cellulose  obtained  from  a  sea 
weed  which  grows  on  the  coast  of  Japan.  One 
or  the  other  of  these  products  or  combinations 
of  the  two,  must  be  added  to  every  meal  to  in- 
sure its  expeditious  transit  along  the  food 
tube. 

The  idea  that  bran  is  irritating  is  a  perni- 
cious error.  Wet  bran  is  like  wet  paper,  it 
does  not  and  can  not  irritate.  Bran  does  not 
irritate  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  mouth. 
The  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach  and 
intestine  are  no  more  sensitive  nor  delicate 
than  is  that  of  the  mouth.  These  membranes 
are,  in  fact,  less  sensitive  and  less  liable  to  in- 
jury than  is  the  mouth  mucosa. 

Bran  does  not  irritate,  it  titillates.  The 
tongue  keeps  at  work  after  a  meal  until  every 
particle  of  food  has  been  gathered  up  and  dis- 
posed of.  In  like  manner  the  stomach  and  the 
intestine  keep  at  work  until  each  little  particle 
of  bran  has  been  passed  along  toward  the  exit. 

4.  A  High  Protein  Diet. — By  a  high- 
protein  diet  is  meant  a  diet  which  contains  an 
excess  of  the  nitrogenous  element  of  the  food. 
Practically,  such  a  diet  will  consist  largely  of 


84   THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

flesh  food,  though  an  excess  of  protein  may 
be  taken  in  the  fbrm  of  eggs,  or  even  in  such 
foods  as  beans  or  certain  varieties  of  nuts. 

Man  is  by  nature  a  low  protein  feeder. 
He  belongs  to  a  nut  and  fruit  eating  tribe, 
the  primates,  along  with  the  orang  and  the 
chimpanzee.  Carnivorous  or  flesh-eating  ani- 
mals have  short  intestines  and  especially  very 
short  colons. 

The  short  intestine  of  the  flesh  eating  ani- 
mal is  necessary  to  prevent  the  long  retention 
of  undigested  food  residues.  Putrefaction  de- 
velops very  rapidly  at  the  temperature  of  the 
body.  A  bit  of  dead  flesh  in  a  wound  soon 
acquires  a  very  unpleasant  odor.  Even  frag- 
ments of  food  left  in  the  mouth  in  a  few  hours 
taint  the  breath  with  decomposition  products. 
In  the  colon,  these  putrefaction  changes  take 
place  much  more  rapidly,  because  of  the  pres- 
ence of  active  putrefaction  germs  and  the  de- 
gree of  warmth  and  moisture  which  especially 
favor  putrefaction. 

But  some  kinds  of  food  do  not  putrefy. 
Practically,  meat  and  eggs  are  about  the  only 
foods  that  undergo  putrefaction  or  decay. 
Milk,  cereals,  vegetables,  fruits,  ferment,  but 
do  not  putrefy.     The  products  of  fermenta- 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  85 

tion  are  acids,  chiefly  lactic  acid,  which  is  non- 
poisonous,  and  even  serves  a  useful  purpose 
in  preventing  by  its  presence  the  growth  of 
putrefaction  germs  and  hence  the  decay  of 
putrescible  substances.  A  raw  beefsteak  will 
not  decay  when  immersed  in  buttermilk  or 
fruit  juice.  Sugar  is  a  well-known  preserv- 
ative. 

The  acids  formed  by  the  fermentation  of 
the  residues  of  vegetable  foodstuffs  in  the 
colon  are  the  natural  stimulants  of  the  colon, 
an  interesting  fact  pointed  out  many  years 
ago  by  the  eminent  specialist,  Prof.  Ad. 
Schmidt.  When  the  fermentation  is  excess- 
ive, it  may  even  give  rise  to  looseness  of  the 
bowels  as  in  some  forms  of  diarrhea,  in  which 
a  strong  sour  smell  is  present,  common  in  in- 
fants. 

On  the  other  hand,  putrefaction  has  ex- 
actly the  opposite  effect.  The  ammonia  and 
various  ptomaines  and  other  poisons  produced 
by  the  decay  of  meat,  paralyze  the  colon  and 
so  cause  constipation. 

It  is  practically  impossible  to  cure  consti- 
pation so  long  as  putrefaction  is  active  in  the 
colon.  It  should  be  remembered  that  in  latent 
constipation    there    may    be    regular    bowel 


86       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

movements,  but  the  colon  is  never  emptied. 
The  daily  evacuations  represent  simply  the 
overflow  of  an  over-distended  colon  filled 
with  decaying  and  highly  poisonous  and  of- 
fensive food  residues. 

Undigested  fragments  of  decaying  flesh 
are  always  found  in  the  colon  of  meat-eaters 
and  supply  the  best  possible  soil  for  the  luxu- 
riant growth  of  disease  producing  germs.  In- 
deed, the  germs  which  cause  putrefaction,  the 
colon  bacillus,  Welch's  bacillus,  B.  putrificus 
and  other  putrefactive  organisms,  are  all 
poison-forming  and  disease-producing  germs. 
They  cause  inflammation,  suppuration,  ab- 
cess,  gangrene,  and  death  when  their  growth 
is  unchecked.  These  very  germs  are  the  cause 
of  colitis,  the  almost  universal  accompaniment 
of  chronic  constipation. 

Colitis  causes  spasm  or  contraction  of  the 
lower  half  of  the  colon  and  exaggerated  anti- 
peristalsis,  that  is,  reversed  action  of  the  colon, 
so  that  putrid  fecal  matters  accumulate  in  the 
caecum,  overstretch  this  part  of  the  colon,  and 
produce  appendicitis,  incompetency  of  the  ileo- 
cecal valve  and  autointoxication. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  flesh-eating 
habits  of  Americans  must  be  one  of  the  great 


6:00  P.  M. 

Breakfast  Residue    (blue)    mostly   in   Descending   Colon. 

Dinner  Residue  (Red)   passing  into  Colon,  mixing 

with  Breakfast  Residue.     Supper  just 

eaten    (yellow). 


r 


9:00  P.  M. 

Breakfast  Residue    (blue)    mostly  in   Pelvic  Colon,  ready  to 

be  discharged.    Dinner  Residue  (red)  in  Right  Half  of 

Colon.     Supper  Residue    (yellow)    nearly 

ready  to  enter  Colon. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  87 

causes  of  the  universal  constipation  which  has 
become  a  national  curse  and  perhaps  the 
greatest  cause  of  national  inefficiency  and  phy- 
sical unpreparedness. 

5.  Reduced  Quantity  of  Food.  A  reduc- 
tion of  the  quantity  of  food  eaten  lessens  the 
bulk  of  the  residue  and  so  leads  to  constipa- 
tion. Fasting,  or  even  the  omission  of  a  meal 
interrupts  bowel  movement.  Hence  the  need 
of  regularity  in  diet.  Meals  must  not  be 
omitted.  If  there  is  lack  of  appetite  or  no 
time  for  the  regular  meal,  fruit  should  be 
taken  with  bran  or  agar-agar  and  paraffin  oil 
to  keep  up  the  normal  rhythm,  and  to  prevent 
a  blockade  in  the  lower  colon. 

An  extra  meal  of  fruit  is  an  undoubted  aid 
to  bowel  action.  An  orange  or  an  apple  eaten 
at  bedtime  is  often  effective  in  aiding  the  ad- 
vance of  the  food  residues  so  that  a  good 
evacuation  is  secured  on  rising  the  next  morn- 
ing. The  activity  of  the  colon  is  four  times  as 
great  during  the  eating  of  food,  doubtless  be- 
cause of  the  stimulating  effect  of  food  upon 
the  controlling  nerve  centers  through  the  gus- 
tatory nerves. 

Even  a  glass  or  two  of  cold  water  at  bed 
time  and  on  rising  has  a  similar  effect.    Water 


88   THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

causes  the  secretion  of  gastric  juice  and  ex- 
cites peristaltic  waves  and  thus  aids  the  prog- 
ress of  waste  along  the  colon. 

Horace  Fletcher^s  Mistake 

6.  It  is  evident  that  long  chewing  of  the 
food  must  tend  to  aid  bowel  action,  and  that 
hasty  eating  has  the  opposite  effect.  It  must 
be  remarked,  however,  that  by  thorough  mas- 
tication we  do  not  refer  to  the  mode  of  eating 
known  as  Fletcherizing.  Mr.  Fletcher  urged 
that  the  food  should  be  well  masticated  and 
in  this  many  old  writers  as  well  as  modern 
authorities  are  in  accord  with  him.  The  writer 
has  urged  the  same  for  more  than  forty  years. 
But  Mr.  Fletcher  also  insisted  that  all  mate- 
rials which  could  not  be  reduced  to  a  liquid  in 
the  mouth  should  be  rejected.  That  is,  he  ex- 
cluded roughage  entirely  from  his  dietary, 
thinking  it  a  virtue  to  reduce  the  quantity  of 
food  residues  to  the  smallest  limit  possible  as 
a  measure  of  economy,  even  to  the  extent  of 
one  or  two  bowel  movements  weekly.  In  this 
Mr.  Fletcher  was  greatly  in  error.  He  evi- 
dently overlooked  the  fact  that  the  body 
wastes  which  are  eliminated  by  way  of  the 
colon  are  only  in  small  part  composed  of  food 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  89 

wastes,  the  greater  and  more  important  con- 
sisting of  bile,  a  highly  poisonous  excretion, 
mucus,  and  special  excretory  products  which 
are  normally  eliminated  by  way  of  the  large 
intestine. 

The  writer  labored  very  earnestly  with 
Mr.  Fletcher  personally  on  many  occasions  to 
convince  him  of  his  error,  and  at  last  accounts 
he  seems  to  have  in  some  degree  corrected  the 
error  as  far  as  his  own  personal  habits  are  con- 
cerned, but  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  he  has 
made  no  attempt  to  correct  or  counteract  the 
teaching  of  his  books  and  lectures  in  which  con- 
stipation was  made  to  appear  as  a  physiologic 
virtue,  an  evidence  of  "economy  of  nutrition." 

This  was  the  rock  on  which  Fletcherism 
split  and  went  to  pieces  as  a  system.  It  must 
not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  Mr.  Fletcher 
made  a  contribution  to  the  science  of  nutrition 
of  priceless  value  in  compelling  by  his  earnest 
and  active  propaganda  and  his  tactful  promo- 
tion among  scientific  men  and  physiologists, 
recognition  of  the  low  protein  idea  in  diet.  He 
went  farther  and  contributed  not  much  time, 
but  many  thousands  of  dollars  to  encourage 
scientific  investigation  of  the  question  of  the 
protein  ration. 


90       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

The  famous  research  of  Chittenden  which 
demonstrated  the  great  advantages  of  low 
protein  feeding,  was  undertaken  by  the  sug- 
gestion of  Mr.  Fletcher  and  the  large  ex- 
pense was  in  part  borne  by  Mr.  Fletcher. 

Thorough  chewing,  long  chewing,  aids  the 
progress  of  food  residues  along  the  garbage 
canal,  the  colon,  but  only  when  a  sufficient 
amount  of  roughage  is  swallowed  with  the  di- 
gestible and  nutrient  portion  of  the  food- 
stuifs.  So  one  should  not  follow  Mr. 
Fletcher's  instruction  to  return  to  the  plate 
everything  that  cannot  be  reduced  to  liquid 
in  the  mouth,  but  should  masticate  well  and 
swallow  natural  food  stuffs  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible in  their  complete  entirety  as  nature  pro- 
vides them. 

6.  The  Educated  or  House-broken  Co- 
lon.— The  house  dog  is  necessarily  trained 
to  avoid  evacuating  his  bowels  in  the  house. 
In  other  words,  he  is  taught  to  restrain  his 
bowels  from  moving  when  they  are  so  dis- 
posed, until  it  is  convenient  for  his  owner  to 
turn  him  out  of  doors.  A  dog  so  trained  is 
house-broken. 

If  dogs  were  the  only  house-broken 
creatures,  what  a  world  of  wretchedness,  suf- 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  91 

fering,    even    crime    and    human    wreckage 
would  be  saved. 

All  civilized  people  are  house-broken,  and 
like  poor  house-broken  dogs,  pay  for  this 
sinister  education  an  infinite  price,  not  only 
in  misery  and  inefficiency,  but  in  deadly 
disease  and  shortened  life. 

The  whole  civilized  portion  of  the  human 
race  is  house-broken.  The  mother  or  nurse  of 
every  infant  begins  the  work  of  training  the 
child  to  control  its  bowels,  which  means  to 
thwart  the  automatic  process  by  which  the 
wastes  are  normally  dismissed  from  the  body, 
and  by  the  time  the  child  is  two  years  old  it  is 
well  house-broken  and  hence  constipated.  In 
this  respect  the  infant  house  dog  learns  faster 
than  the  human  infant. 

A  house-broken  colon  is  a  damaged  colon. 
The  natural  automatic  process  of  discarding 
the  body  wastes  demands  a  prompt  response 
to  the  "call"  for  evacuation.  As  soon  as  the 
pelvic  colon,  the  discharging  gate,  is  filled  and 
lifted  ready  for  action,  a  desire  for  evacuation 
is  experienced.  When  the  fecal  matters  be- 
gin to  pass  into  the  rectum  the  desire  becomes 
so  pronounced  that  it  must  be  firmly  resisted 
to  avoid  immediate  evacuation.    After  a  time 


92       THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

the  desire  disappears,  but  the  fecal  wastes  re- 
main in  the  rectum.  The  "call"  is  now  lost. 
It  may  return  later  when  the  rectum  is  still 
more  distended  by  the  advance  into  it  from  the 
pelvic  colon  of  additional  waste  matters. 
This  "caU"  may  be  resisted  also,  and  so  the 
rectum  may  become  distended  to  the  extreme 
limit  and  will  no  longer  give  notice  of  the 
entrance  of  feces  even  when  it  has  been  arti- 
ficially emptied.  In  other  words,  the  "call" 
is  permanently  lost,  the  rectum  is  paralyzed. 

Thousands  of  sufferers  from  constipation 
never  have  a  desire  for  evacuation  except 
when  a  laxative  drug  has  been  taken. 

When  the  call  is  lost,  no  warning  is  given 
of  the  condition  of  the  colon  and  accumula- 
tion of  waste  matters  may  occur  to  an  aston- 
ishing extent.  Once  or  twice  a  week,  per- 
haps, a  dose  of  salts  or  of  some  other  cathartic 
is  taken  for  a  sort  of  housecleaning  and  the 
rest  of  the  time,  filthy,  putrefying  wastes  fill 
and  distend  the  colon  and  cause  injuries 
which  in  many  instances  can  never  be  re- 
paired. 

Semi-civilized  people  and  savages  have  a 
keen  appreciation  of  the  importance  of 
prompt  attention  to  the  automatic  demands 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  93 

of  the  body.  A  medical  missionary  who  had 
spent  many  years  in  Arabia  told  the  writer 
that  a  common  objection  offered  by  the  tribal 
Arab  to  living  in  Aden  was  the  necessity  for 
looking  up  a  suitable  place  for  evacuation  in 
compliance  with  the  law. 

A  new  and  sensitive  colon  conscience  must 
be  developed  among  civilized  people  if  the 
world  is  to  be  saved  from  the  soul-  and  body- 
and  even  race- destroying  effects  of  universal 
constipation  and  world  wide  autointoxication. 

The  universally  prevalent  idea  that  one 
bowel  movement  daily  is  sufficient  is  proof  of 
the  universal  prevalence  of  constipation.  One 
bowel  movement  means  constipation  of  a  pro- 
nounced degree.  X-ray  examination  after  an 
opaque  meal  shows  that  persons  whose  bowels 
move  once  a  day  are  constantly  carrying  in 
their  colons  the  putrefying  residues  of  five  to 
ten  meals  or  even  a  larger  nimiber.  The  colon 
is  never  empty  even  after  a  movement,  and 
toxemia  is  present  and  often  shown  in  the 
coated  tongue,  foul  breath,  headache,  depres- 
sion, and  other  indications  usually  present. 

One  bowel  movement  a  day  is  very  marked 
constipation. 

7.    The  Use  of  Laxative  Drugs. — It  must 


94   THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

be  admitted  that  the  use  of  laxative  drugs  is  in 
every  way  preferable  to  constipation.  Never- 
theless it  must  be  recognized  that  drugs  are  at 
best  only  palliatives.  They  afford  temporary 
relief  which  is  sometimes  highly  necessary. 
But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  at  the  same 
time  they  inflict  grave  injury  upon  the  colon, 
to  say  nothing  of  injuries  to  the  stomach,  liver, 
kidneys  and  other  organs,  sometimes  even  in- 
cluding the  heart. 

Every  laxative  drug  which  acts  by  irrita- 
tion of  the  colon,  in  time  causes  colitis  or  infec- 
tion of  the  bowel.  The  congestion  of  the  colon 
mucous  membrane  caused  by  the  drug,  destroys 
the  filtering  power  of  the  membrane  so  that 
the  poisons  developed  in  the  colon  by  putre- 
faction are  readily  taken  into  the  blood,  thus 
intensifying  the  effects  of  the  intestinal  toxe- 
mia always  present  with  constipation. 

Colitis  is  accompanied  by  a  spastic  condi- 
tion of  the  colon.  That  is,  the  colon  contracts 
so  that  the  contents  cannot  be  pushed  forward 
en  masse,  but  must  be  slowly  carried  along  in 
lumps.  The  occurrence  of  round,  hard  lumps 
in  the  stool,  is  proof  of  this  spastic  condition. 
Obstructive  adhesions  of  the  pelvic  colon, 
pouching    and    hindering    adhesions    of     the 


10  p.  M. 

Breakfast  Residue    (blue)    Discharged    (bowel   movement   at 

bed  time).    Dinner  Residue  (red)  in  Colon,  and  Supper 

'Residue  ready  to  pass  into  Colon. 


6:00  A.  M. 

Morning  of  Second  Day.     Dinner  Residue    (red)    in 
Pelvic  Colon,  ready  to  be   discharged. 


THE  "HOUSE-BROKEN"  COLON  95 

caecum,  incompetency  of  the  ileocecal  valve, 
are  only  a  few  of  the  mischiefs  arising  from 
the  "laxative"  habit. 

Still  another,  and  one  of  the  most  damaging 
effects  of  the  laxative  is  a  great  exaggeration 
of  the  antiperistaltic  action  of  the  transverse 
colon,  causing  overdistension  of  the  ceecum, 
which  in  time  is  followed  by  pouching  of  the 
caecum,  appendicitis  and  other  grave  condi- 
tions. 

AH  laxative  drugs  are  harmful.  There  are 
no  exceptions.  They  all  produce  colitis  and 
thus  intensify  the  mischievous  effects  of  the 
constipation  which  they  temporarily  remove. 


THE  FOOD  BLOCKADE 

The  American  people  are  almost  uni- 
versally suffering  from  a  food  blockade  in  the 
colon.  Constipation,  the  common  term  ap- 
plied to  this  condition,  is  generally  regarded 
as  an  inconvenience  rather  than  a  menace  to 
life  and  health.  It  is  one  of  the  most  prolific 
of  all  causes  of  disease. 

Thousands  of  men  and  women  think  them- 
selves in  good  health  because  their  bowels 
move  once  a  day,  regardless  of  the  fact  that 
they  have  coated  tongues,  a  foul  breath,  and 
many  other  indications  of  autointoxication. 
The  fact  is  that  the  bowels  should  move  three 
or  four  times  a  day — or  at  least  once  after 
each  meal. 

The  normal  alimentary  cycle  is  twelve  to 
fourteen  hours.  Here  are  the  simple  facts,  as 
shown  by  means  of  X-ray  examinations,  ex- 
periments upon  animals,  and  other  scientific 
modes  of  investigation: 

The  work  of  digesting  and  absorbing  the 
food  occupies  about  eight  hours.  At  the  end 
of  this  time  the  unusable  food  residues  is  found 
deposited  in  the  colon,  ready  to  be  dismissed 


THE   FOOD  BLOCKADE  97 

from  the  body  as  waste  and  useless  material. 
The  process  of  gastric  digestion  is  finished  in 
four  hours;  the  small  intestine  completes  the 
work  of  digestion  and  absorption  in  four 
hours  more. 

During  this  time  the  foodstuffs  have  been 
completely  digested  and  absorbed,  or  prac- 
tically so,  leaving  a  small  residue  of  indi- 
gestible and  unusable  remnants,  together  with 
mucous,  bile  and  certain  other  waste  matters 
to  be  dismissed  from  the  body  by  the  colon,  a 
wonderful  mechanism  provided  by  Nature  to 
serve  the  body  for  waste  and  garbage  disposal. 
There  is  in  many  ways  close  analogy  between 
"the  house  we  live  in"  and  an  ordinary  domi- 
cile. It  is  almost  literally  true  that  the  stom- 
ach is  the  kitchen  of  the  body,  the  small  intes- 
tine the  dining  room,  the  colon  the  garbage 
and  waste  disposal  system — more  than  a  mere 
waste  receptacle. 

The  stomach  prepares  the  food  materials 
for  digestion,  but  really  digests  and  absorbs 
very  little  of  the  food. 

The  small  intestine  is  the  great  digesting 
and  absorbing  department  of  the  human  econ- 
omy. On  its  seven  square  feet  of  mucous 
membrane  are  found  five  millions  of  absorbing 


98   THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

rootlets — the  "villi" — that  hang  out  into  the 
cavity  of  the  intestine.  The  contents  of  the 
intestine,  which  bathe  these  absorbing  rootlets, 
constitute  the  soil  out  of  which  the  body 
grows.  As  the  soil  is  exhausted,  the  worth- 
less remnant  is  pushed  on  into  the  colon,  to 
be  dismissed  from  the  body  as  unusable  and 
undesirable. 

The  great  work  of  the  stomach  and  small 
intestine,  involving  marvelous  changes  that 
fit  the  food  to  enter  the  blood  and  become  part 
of  the  living  structure  of  the  body,  is  done  in 
eight  hours.  During  this  time  the  length  of 
intestine  passed  over  is  nearly  twenty-five 
feet. 

Clogging  of  the  Colon 

At  the  end  of  eight  hours  the  residues  are 
in  the  colon  and  within  two  or  three  feet  of  the 
lower  outlet.  If  the  whole  mass  of  food, 
weighing  several  pounds  in  all,  has  been  able 
to  travel  twenty-five  feet  in  eight  hours,  or  at 
the  rate  of  three  feet  an  hour,  it  certainly 
would  seem  that  the  small  residue  of  waste, 
amounting  to  only  a  few  ounces,  ought  to  fin- 
ish the  journey  in  four  hours  more. 

And  that  is  exactly  what  occurs  in  the  wild 


THE   FOOD  BLOCKADE  99 

man  who  lives  a  natural  life  in  the  forest  and 
in  those  man-like  beasts,  the  higher  apes.  But 
among  civilized  people  a  blockade  develops  in 
this  lower  region  of  the  digestive  tube,  which 
is  the  worse  sort  of  obstruction  to  the  com- 
merce of  the  body  and  to  all  its  activities. 

X-ray  studies  by  Dr.  James  T.  Case  have 
shown  that  the  food  residues  of  a  meal  reach 
a  point  beyond  the  middle  of  the  colon  in  less 
than  ten  hours  from  the  beginning  of  the 
meal.  In  two  hours  more,  or  at  the  end  of 
twelve  hours,  these  unusable  materials  should 
be  cast  out  of  the  body.  Certainly  two  hours 
ought  to  suffice  for  a  journey  of  only  two  feet, 
when  nearly  thirty  feet  have  been  traversed  in 
ten  hours. 

But  the  astonishing  fact  is  that  the  time 
required  for  the  food  residues  to  travel  the 
last  two  feet  of  the  colon  is,  in  the  average 
person  whose  bowels  move  once  a  day,  about 
forty  hours,  or  twenty  times  longer  than  it 
should  be. 

In  this  astonishing  fact  is  to  be  found  the 
secret  of  nine-tenths  of  all  the  chronic  ills 
from  which  civilized  human  beings  suffer,  and 
perhaps  not  a  small  part  of  our  moral  and 
social  maladies. 


100      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

In  the  last  two  feet  of  the  colon  is  found 
the  seat  of  the  most  destructive  blockade  that 
has  ever  opposed  human  progress.  Let  us 
look  a  moment  at  the  real  situation.  The 
accompanying  diagrams  will  help  to  make  this 
clear.  (See  colored  plates.) 

Suppose  a  test  meal  is  given  at  breakfast 
on  Monday  morning.  Within  the  fifty  or 
more  hours  that  elapse  before  the  residues  of 
the  meal  are  dismissed  on  the  following  Wed- 
nesday, at  least  six  more  meals  are  eaten. 
The  residues  of  all  these  meals  as  well  as 
those  of  the  test  meal  are  packed  away  in  the 
colon.  The  residue  of  the  test  meal  is  shown 
in  the  accompanying  colored  diagrams  in 
black.  The  succeeding  meal  residues  are 
shown  in  red,  blue  and  yellow  colors. 

How  far  different  this  condition  is  from 
a  normal  or  ideal  state  will  best  be  appre- 
ciated by  reference  to  the  second  diagram. 
When  the  colon  acts  normally  the  food  resi- 
dues are  moved  along  in  a  procession  with  in- 
tervals between  the  meals  which  afford  the  in- 
testine an  opportunity  for  rest,  and,  still  more 
important,  a  chance  to  cleanse  itself  by  means 
of  its  lubricating  and  disinfecting  mucus. 
Each  residue  should  be  moved  along  by  itself 


THE   FOOD  BLOCKADE  101 

and  discharged  at  once  when  it  reaches  the 
end  of  the  colon.  Here  is  the  normal  pro- 
gram of  the  procession  along  the  food  tube: 

Breakfast  at  7  a.  m. 

At  11  a.  m.  the  stomach  is  empty  and  has 
an  opportunity  to  rest  and  disinfect  itself  be- 
fore dinner  The  breakfast  is  all  in  the  small 
intestine  and  beginning  to  pass  into  the  colon. 

Dinner  at  noon. 

The  new  peristaltic  impulse  given  the 
whole  food  tube  by  the  new  intake  of  food  car- 
ries the  breakfast  over  into  the  colon  and  by 
five  o'clock  p.  m.  the  breakfast  has  begun  to 
enter  the  descending  or  last  half  of  the  colon, 
the  dinner  is  in  the  lower  part  of  the  small  in- 
testine, and  the  stomach  is  again  empty,  rest- 
ing and  disinfecting  itself  in  preparaton  for 
supper. 

Supper  at  6  p.  m. 

The  new  food  intake  makes  another  vigor- 
ous move  all  along  the  line,  the  result  of  which 
in  four  hours  should  be  to  dismiss  the  whole 
residue  of  the  breakfast,  to  move  the  dinner 
residue  into  the  colon,  and  to  carry  the  sup- 
per to  the  lower  end  of  the  small  intestine, 
leaving  the  stomach  empty  and  so  prepared 
for  rest  during  the  night. 


102      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

During  the  hours  of  sleep  the  intestinal  \ 
movements  are  much  slower.  By  morning  ^ 
however,  the  dinner  residue  of  the  day  before  ■ 
will  have  reached  the  lower  colon,  so  that  the  ' 
intestinal  activity  set  up  by  the  act  of  rising  I 
should  lead  to  a  before-breakfast  bowel  move-  I 
ment.  i 

The  breakfast  intake  should  cause  the  dis-  | 
missal  of  the  residue  of  the  supper  of  the  day  i 
before;  or  if  the  after-breakfast  movement  j 
fails  or  is  incomplete,  the  dinner  intake  should 
lead  to  a  complete  clearance  of  all  the  residues  j 
accumulated  from  the  food  intakes  of  the  day  i 
before. 

When  this  program  is  carried  out  with- 
out interruption,  no  part  of  the  food  tube  is  j 
over-burdened  with  an  undue  accumulation  of  ! 
waste  material,  and  the  food  residues  are  i 
moved  along  so  rapidly  that  there  is  no  time  I 
for  harmful  putrefaction. 

It  is  known  that  the  first  changes  that  oc-  : 
cur  in  the  foodstuffs  are  simple  acid  fermenta-  ; 
tions  that  are  harmless.  It  is  only  after  the  | 
lapse  of  twenty-four  hours  or  more  that  putre-  ; 
faction  and  poison-forming  processes  begin.  ! 
It  is  thus  evident  that  the  maintenance  of  the  \ 
normal  alimentary  cycle  is  a  matter  of  the  ut-  \ 


T 


6:30  A.  M. 

Half  Hour  after  Rising,  Second  Day,  after  Bowel  Movement. 
Only  Residue  of  Supper   (yellow)   left  in  Colon. 


8:00-9:00  A.  M.  (Second  Day) 

Second  Morning  after  Breakfast.     Bowels  have  moved,  the 

Colon  has  been  emptied  of  wastes  and  residue,  and 

is  ready  for  a  new  series  of  meals. 


THE   FOOD   BLOCKADE  103 

most  consequence  for  health  preservation,  and 
that  the  restoration  of  this  function  when  lost 
is  a  matter  of  fundamental  importance. 

X-ray  studies  have  clearly  shown  that  in 
by  far  the  great  majority  of  cases  of  consti- 
pation, perhaps  in  nine-tenths  of  all  cases,  the 
real  difficulty  is  to  be  found  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  colon. 

A  common  and  most  valuable  remedy 
which  has  been  resorted  to  even  by  the  most 
primitive  people  and  from  the  most  ancient 
times,  is  the  enema,  by  which  the  crippled 
colon  is  mechanically  emptied.  This  harmless 
measure  affords  only  temporarj^  relief,  and 
to  be  effective  must  be  repeated  daily,  and 
twice  a  day  when  natural  movements  do  not 
occur  without. 

Bulk  and  Lubeication 

The  most  valuable,  remedies,  measures 
that  actually  succeed,  even  in  very  obstinate 
cases,  are  found  in  two  very  simple  substances 
— bran  and  paraffine  oil.  One  affords  bulk, 
the  other  lubrication. 

By  the  proper  use  of  bran,  or  agar-agar, 
and  paraffine  oil  at  each  meal,  the  bowels  may 
be  made  to  move  normally,  or  at  least  in  a 


104      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

manner  approximating  the  normal  rhythm — 
that  is,  three  times  a  day,  or  after  each  meal. 
The  amount  of  bran  or  other  bulk  material 
must  be  large,  two  ounces  daily  being,  re- 
quired in  some  cases. 

The  amount  of  paraffine  required  also  dif- 
fers. In  some  cases  the  dose  must  be  quite 
large — even  so  much  as  an  ounce  and  a  half 
at  each  meal.  The  amount  of  bran  and  para- 
ffine should  be  gradually  increased  until  suffi- 
cient to  accomplish  its  purpose. 

How  TO  Raise  the  Blockade 

When  the  tongue  is  coated  and  the  breath 
bad,  it  is  well  to  begin  the  battle  for  raising 
the  blockade  with  a  few  days  of  fruit  regimen. 
This  consists  of  a  dietary  composed  wholly  of 
fruits,  with  bran  and  paraffine.  Under  this 
regimen  the  tongue  becomes  clean,  the  breath 
sweet  and  the  bowels  move  three  or  four  times 
a  day.  By  careful  management  of  the  diet, 
this  improved  condition  may  be  rendered  per- 
manent, but  a  never-ending  battle  must  be 
waged  against  constipation.  The  colon  is 
crippled  and  will  always  need  special  atten- 
tion and  help.  It  has  become  overstretched 
and  half  paralyzed,  and  so  an  extra  amount 


THE   FOOD  BLOCKADE  105 

of  roughage  or  bulk-making  material  in  the 
shape  of  fruits,  vegetables,  bran  or  agar-agar 
will  always  be  needed.  The  mucous  glands 
have  atrophied  and  perhaps  the  appendix  has 
been  removed,  and  so  the  lubricating  system 
of  the  intestine  is  damaged,  and  it  may  be 
necessary  to  make  permanent  use  of  an  artifi- 
cial lubricant — paraffine  oil  in  some  form. 
Bulk  and  lubrication  must  he  provided  for 
every  meal. 


THE  CRIPPLED  COLON 

Crippled  colons  may  be  responsible  for 
half  the  ills  of  life.  They  are  the  cause  of 
most  of  the  headaches,  the  insomnia,  depres- 
sion, nerves,  neuralgia,  hypochondria  and 
"biliousness,"  to  say  nothing  of  neuritis,  rheu- 
matism, and  a  score  of  other  painful  or  dan- 
gerous maladies.  Many  diseases,  the  origin  of 
which  has  long  been  a  mystery,  are  now  be- 
lieved by  able  physicians  to  be  due  to  the  poi- 
sons generated  by  putrefactive  processes  in 
the  colon. 

Colon  Hygiene 

We  hear  much  now-a-days  about  the  hy- 
giene of  the  mouth,  and  the  newspapers  teem 
with  wise  and  unwise  advice  about  the  care 
of  the  stomach,  but  rarely  do  we  hear  any- 
thing really  helpful  or  sensible  about  the 
hygiene  of  the  colon,  the  terminal  portion  of 
the  alimentary  canal. 

The  mouth  is  the  receiving  station,  the 
colon  is  the  waste  disposal  plant.  The  wastes 
with  which  the  colon  deals  are  only  in  part 
composed  of  food  residues.     The  larger  part 


THE  CRIPPLED  COLON  107 

consists  of  bile,  mucus  and  other  body  wastes, 
poisonous  matters  which  must  be  eliminated 
in  order  to  keep  the  blood  clean  and  the  body 
free  from  hindering  refuse. 

The  mismanagement  of  the  receiving  sta- 
tion is  a  prolific  source  of  trouble  and  of 
disease.  This  every  one  knows,  most  people 
from  personal  experience.  Not  so  many  peo- 
ple are  aware  of  the  fact  that  a  still  longer 
list  of  ills  and  still  more  serious  disorders  re- 
sult from  derangements  of  the  waste  disposal 
plant.  When  the  food  residues,  and  other 
wastes,  are  not  promptly  dismissed  from  the 
body  they  undergo  putrefaction.  This  is  the 
cause  of  the  extremely  offensive  character  of 
the  fecal  matters,  especially  the  bowel  dis- 
charges of  dogs,  cats,  lions,  and  other  animals 
that  eat  meat.  The  undigested  portion  of 
meat  undergoing  decay  in  the  colon  gives  rise 
to  the  same  obnoxious  odors  and  the  same 
rank  poisons  which  are  found  in  a  dead  rat  or 
the  carcass  of  a  dead  cow  decaying  in  a  fence 
corner. 

It  is  necessary  to  take  in  food  at  frequent 
intervals.  It  is  equally  necessary  to  dispose 
of  the  food  residues  and  body  wastes  at  fre- 
quent  intervals.     The   kidneys   remove   poi- 


108      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

sons  which  are  temporarily  deposited  in  the 
bladder  and  discharged  several  times  a  day. 
The  liver  excretes  daily  twenty  ounces  of  bile 
which,  according  to  Bouchard,  is  six  times  as 
poisonous  as  urine,  and  this  needs  to  be  dis- 
charged along  with  other  wastes  as  promptly 
and  as  frequently  as  is  the  urine.  In  other 
words,  it  is  just  as  important  that  the  colon 
should  be  emptied  several  times  a  day  as  that 
the  bladder  should  be  emptied  several  times 
daily.  In  fact,  the  bowels  should  be  emptied 
at  least  after  every  meal. 

Bowel  Habits   or   Wild   Animals^   Wild 
Men  AND  Idiots 

Wild  animals,  wild  men,  healthy  infants 
and  idiots  move  their  bowels  as  often  as  they 
are  fed.  Wild  animals  and  wild  men  have  bet- 
ter sense  than  to  interfere  with  the  normal 
promptings  of  nature.  Infants  and  idiots 
lack  the  intelligence  necessary  to  disturb  their 
normal  functions,  and  so  the  bowels  move 
automatically  soon  after  food  is  taken.  In 
well-managed  idiot  asylums  the  inmates  are 
regularly  taken  to  the  toilet  after  each  meal 
and  before  going  to  bed.  When  this  is  done, 
the  soiling  of  beds  and  clothing  is  prevented. 


THE  CRIPPLED  COLON  109 

When  the  colon  acts  in  this  prompt  and 
regular  way,  there  is  little  time  for  the  putre- 
faction of  food  residues  in  the  colon,  and  the 
stools  are  less  offensive,  especially  when  meat 
is  excluded  from  the  dietary. 

Injurious  Conventionalities 

Most  civilized  human  beings,  and  some- 
times pet  animals,  are  less  fortunate  than  wild 
animals,  wild  men  and  idiots  in  relation  to 
their  bowel  functions.  Almost  from  the  first 
dawn  of  intelligence  the  infant  is  systematic- 
ally taught  to  restrain  its  bowel  and  bladder 
functions.  The  demands  of  modesty  and  our 
ignorance  of  the  importance  of  frequent, 
rhythmical  and  automatic  bowel  action  lead  to 
restraint,  delay,  and  neglect  of  the  body's 
waste  disposal  function  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
make  it  an  actual  menace  to  the  welfare  of 
the  race. 

A  Lesson  from  an  Idiot  Asylum 

Miss  Keller,  an  inspector  connected  with 
the  health  department  of  New  York  city, 
sent  the  author  the  following  highly  interest- 
ing observation  respecting  the  bowel  habits  of 
idiots  which  must  of  necessity  be  automatic, 


110      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

and  hence  more  likely  to  be  natural  than  the 
habits  of  those  whose  intelligence  permits 
them  in  obedience  to  the  mandates  of  perni- 
cious custom  to  ignore  and  set  aside  the  warn- 
ing of  nature,  and  to  thwart  and  finally  de- 
stroy important  automatic  functions: 

"The  following  observation  may  interest 
you.  It  was  made  while  inspecting  Randall's 
Island's  Children's  Hospitals  and  Schools,  the 
place  where  New  York  City  maintains  its 
feeble-minded  public  charges,  about  two  thou- 
sand in  number,  who  range  from  rank  idiocy 
through  imbecility  and  up  to  the  moron  grade. 
There  are  also  a  few  epileptics. 

"In  looking  into  sanitary  conditions,  and 
finding  both  the  inmates  and  the  premises 
clean,  I  asked  the  matron  in  charge  of  one 
cottage  harboring  one  hundred  and  eighty-six 
children  of  the  lowest  type  of  mentality,  how 
she  managed  to  keep  them  continent.  She 
said  the  children  are  trained  to  evacuate  their 
bowels  four  times  each  day,  once  after  each 
meal  and  once  before  bedtime.  Those  whose 
mentality  is  too  low  to  form  the  habit  of  go- 
ing to  the  toilet  are  placed  on  it  by  attend- 
ants. The  others  are  directed  there  after 
meals.     The  results  are  quite  mechanical. 


1 :00  P.  M. 

Breakfast  Residue    (blue)    is   passing    into   the   Colon. 
Dinner  (red),  just  eaten,  is  in  the  Stomach. 


r 


5:00  P.  M. 

Breakfast  Residue  (lalue)  all  in  Colon.    Dinner  iResidue  (red) 
Ready  to  enter  Colon. 


THE  CRIPPLED  COLON  111 

"It  was  interesting  to  note  how  many  of 
those  who  have  been  there  for  some  time  have 
clear  looking  skins  and  eyes,  while  many  of 
the  new  arrivals  are  sallow  and  have  pimpled 
skins." 

Instead  of  training  the  child  to  restrain  its 
functions,  to  resist  the  call  to  nature  for  the 
evacuation  of  poisonous  wastes,  it  should  be 
taught  that  these  functions  are  of  greatest 
importance  and  that  the  demand  of  nature 
should  be  respected  and  should  receive  imme- 
diate attention.  To  protect  the  child  from 
embarrassment  and  to  ensure  normal  func- 
tioning, the  child  should  be  trained  from  earli- 
est years  to  visit  the  toilet  at  once  after  each 
meal,  before  going  to  bed,  and  on  rising  in 
the  morning. 

No  possible  harm  can  come  from  these  fre- 
quent bowel  movements,  and  when  the  diet  is 
properly  regulated,  no  difficulty  will  be  ex- 
perienced in  establishing  good  bowel  habits, 
especially  if  the  instruction  is  begun  early  and 
if  there  is  never  any  interruption  of  the  normal 
bowel  rhythm. 

The  neglect  of  the  colon  is  so  common 
among  civilized  people  that  constipation  has 
become  an  almost  universal  condition.     It  is. 


112      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

indeed,  so  common  that  a  wholly  wrong  con- 
ception of  the  bowel  function  has  become  cur- 
rent. It  is  almost  universally  believed  by 
physicians,  as  well  as  laymen,  that  one  bowel 
movement  a  day  is  quite  sufficient  to  meet 
natural  requirements  and  "a  well  formed 
stool"  is  the  evidence  of  perfect  "regularity." 

Interesting  Japanese  Colon  Customs 

The  Japanese  are  an  exceedingly  prac- 
tical people,  and,  although  rapidly  becoming 
sophisticated  are  not  yet  so  far  away  from  the 
influence  of  their  primitive  life  as  to  have  be- 
come obtuse  to  their  physical  needs  as  are 
the  people  of  the  older  civilizations.  A  highly 
intelligent  American  lady  who  has  lived  long 
in  Japan  and  become  very  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  the  habits  and  manners  of  the 
people,  has  given  me  the  following  most  inter- 
esting account  of  the  very  sensible  manner  in 
which  the  Japanese  deal  with  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  evacuation  of  wastes : — 

"The  Japanese  show  no  false  modesty 
whatever  in  answering  the  call  of  nature.  For 
no  matter  what  the  time,  place  or  circum- 
stances may  be,  they  do  not  hesitate  to  excuse 
themselves  and  go  to  the  toilet  whenever  they 
experience  a  "call." 


THE  CRIPPLED  COLON  113 

"The  guests  who  visit  us  in  our  home,  even 
the  gentlemen  callers,  think  no  more  of  asking 
where  the  toilet  is  than  of  speaking  of  the 
weather. 

"In  most  of  the  houses  of  the  Japanese 
there  are  two  toilets,  one  very  near  the  recep- 
tion room  and  the  other  nearer  the  living 
rooms  of  the  family. 

"If  you  are  a  guest  in  a  friend's  home 
and  must  go  to  the  toilet,  you  cannot  possibly 
avoid  observation  for  the  toilet  is  in  plain  view. 

"The  toilets  themselves  are  different  from 
ours  in  that  there  is  no  stool  or  chair  but 
simply  a  hole  in  the  floor  over  a  large  jar  so 
that  in  evacuating  the  bowels  one  assumes  a 
squatting  position,  and  the  children  are 
taught  from  babyhood  up  to  press  the  knees 
against  the  abdomen  when  evacuating  the 
bowels. 

"As  to  the  convenient  location  of  toilets, 
they  are  not  only  in  every  railway  station, 
public  building,  etc.,  but  on  the  corner  of 
every  block  or  two  in  all  the  cities  and  towns. 
These  public  toilets  the  natives  use  freely. 

"As  to  their  diet,  not  until  the  white  man 
came  into  their  country  and  taught  them  to  do 
so,  did  they  eat  meat  of  any  kind  except  fish. 


114      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Even  now  in  some  of  the  Buddhist  sects  the 
eating  of  the  flesh  of  animals,  except  fish,  is 
prohibited. 

"In  the  interior,  most  of  the  housewives 
know  nothing  of  how  to  kill  and  dress  a 
chicken,  and  in  our  cooking  classes  for  the 
women  they  beg  us  to  teach  them  how  to  fry 
a  beefsteak  and  they  think  that  we  have  meat 
at  every  meal  and  many  different  kinds  at 
each  meal. 

"They  eat  a  great  many  different  kinds  of 
vegetables,  especially  greens  of  all  kinds  and 
seaweed  (agar-agar)  is  a  favorite  dish.  Fruit 
is  served  at  every  meal.  After  a  feast  the  last 
thing  served  is  not  coffee  but  fruit. 

"The  Japanese  say  that  we,  the  white  man, 
have  a  peculiar  odor  about  us  which  is  to  them 
very  offensive,  and  that  this  odor  is  due  to  the 
eating  of  the  flesh  of  fowls  and  beasts." 

The  above  most  interesting  observations 
very  fully  confirm  the  author's  views  respect- 
ing the  normal  intestinal  rhythm  when  the  au- 
tomatic mechanism  devised  by  nature  for  the 
evacuation  of  the  body  wastes  is  allowed  to 
operate  without  interference  by  voluntary  re- 
straint. 


ONE  DAILY  EVACUATION  IS 
CHRONIC  CONSTIPATION 

The  truth  is,  one  bowel  movement  a  day 
is  serious  constipation,  and  a  "well  formed 
stool"  is  absolute  proof  of  stagnation  of  the 
colon  contents  and  autointoxication.  When 
the  bowels  move  with  normal  frequency  there 
is  not  time  for  the  food  residues  to  become 
dried  out  and  molded  into  a  semi-solid  mass. 

X-ray  examinations  of  the  alimentary 
tract  have  shown  that  when  the  bowels  move 
but  once  daily,  the  residues  of  a  test  meal  are 
not  fully  discharged  until  the  third  day,  or 
fifty  hours  or  more  from  the  time  the  meal  was 
taken.  It  is  evident  that  in  such  cases  not 
only  the  residues  of  the  test  meal  are  in  the 
colon  but  also  that  the  residues  of  all  the  meals 
taken  after  the  test  meal  during  the  two  days. 
That  is,  besides  the  test  meal  (breakfast) 
residues  there  are  the  residues  of  the  dinner 
and  supper  of  the  same  day  and  the  breakfast, 
dinner,  and  supper  of  the  next  day,  five  meals 
in  addition  to  the  test  meal. 

This  is  the  constant  situation  with  a  person 
whose  bowels  move  once  a  day.     When  the 


116      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

bowels  move  naturally  only  every  other  day, 
or  when  stimulated  by  a  laxative,  the  situa- 
tion is  very  much  worse.  In  such  cases  the 
colon  often  contains  the  residues  of  a  dozen 
meals  or  more. 

When  the  bowels  move  normally  after 
each  meal  there  is  never  found  in  the  body  at 
one  time  more  than  three  meal  residues  and 
nothing  remains  in  the  colon  longer  than 
twenty-four  hours.  It  is  probable  that  the 
normal  motility  period  of  the  human  alimen- 
tary canal  is  ten  to  fourteen  hours.  That  is, 
the  residue  of  the  breakfast  should  be  dis- 
missed before  bedtime,  the  residue  of  dinner 
on  rising  next  morning,  and  the  supper  resi- 
due after  breakfast  or  dinner. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  this  ideal  con- 
dition can  be  established  in  all  cases,  nor  even 
in  the  majority  of  cases  of  chronic  constipa- 
tion, because  in  these  obstinate  cases  the  colon 
has  become  so  badly  crippled,  the  delicate 
nerves  and  muscular  machinery,  by  which  the 
food  residues  and  body  wastes  are  disposed  of 
have  been  so  greatly  damaged,  that  the  best 
results  that  can  be  hoped  for  are  only  an  ap- 
proximation to  normal  conditions. 


CHRONIC  CONSTIPATION  117 

Abnormal  Colon  Conditions 

The  diseased  conditions  which  are  most 
commonly  involved  in  constipation  are  the 
following : 

1.  Paralysis  of  the  rectum  from  resisting 
the  promptings  of  nature.  The  "call"  has 
been  lost  by  neglect. 

Normally,  the  rectum  is  highly  sensitive. 
It  is  empty  except  during  bowel  movement. 
As  soon  as  a  small  amount  of  fecal  matter  en- 
ters the  upper  part  of  the  rectum,  a  desire  for 
evacuation  is  experienced.  While  this  sensa- 
tion calls  attention  to  the  need  for  evacuation 
the  same  nerve  stimulation  operates  a  reflex 
by  which  the  colon  is  made  to  contract  and 
empty  itself  if  given  an  opportunity  to  do 
so.  If,  however,  the  "call"  is  resisted,  the 
sensation  ceases,  the  rectum  becomes  filled 
with  fecal  matters  but  gives  no  sign  of  their 
presence.  The  rectum  becomes  greatly  dis- 
tended and  is  really  paralyzed. 

This  is  rectal  constipation  and  is  by  far  the 
most  common  sort.  It  is  the  natural  conse- 
quence of  neglect.  Fortunately,  rectal  con- 
stipation is  always  curable,  but  very  thorough- 
going and  prolonged  treatment  is  required. 


118      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

The  rectum  must  be  kept  empty  by  the  aid 
of  the  cool  enema  (80°-70°  F)  twice  a  day. 
Paraffin  oil  in  some  form,  bran,  or  agar-agar 
and  a  laxative  diet  must  be  consistently  ad- 
hered to.  Electricity  is  often  useful  in  restor- 
ing normal  sensibility. 

Regular  times  for  evacuation  are  highly 
important.  An  effort  should  be  made  after 
each  meal.  The  aid  of  the  cool  enema  may  be 
resorted  to  with  benefit  in  many  cases  to  initi- 
ate the  normal  habit  of  evacuating  after  every 
meal. 

2.  A  contracted  or  "tight''  anal  sphincter 
may  be  the  cause  of  delayed  movements  and 
rectal  constipation. 

When  ulcers,  hemorrhoids,  or  other  pain- 
ful conditions  of  the  rectum  exist,  or  "tight" 
sphincter,  the  anal  sphincter  should  be 
stretched  and  proper  surgical  treatment  ap- 
plied. 

3.  Colitis. — A  spastic  contraction,  or 
cramp  of  the  bowel,  occurs  in  colitis,  causing 
obstinate  constipation  so-called,  "spastic  con- 
stipation. Hot  fomentations  to  the  abdomen 
and  the  warm  enema  will  temporarily  relax 
the  spasm,  but  the  colitis  must  be  cured  by 
changing  the  intestinal  flora,  that  is,  driving 


CHRONIC  CONSTIPATION  119 

out  the  putrefactive  bacteria  and  establishing 
the  protective  acid-forming  germs,  which  not 
only  prevent  putrefaction,  but  by  means  of 
the  acids  which  they  produce  stimulate  the 
bowel  to  normal  activity.  The  ammonia  and 
other  bases  caused  by  putrefaction  paralyze 
the  colon.  Colitis  is  always  curable  by  use  of 
modern  scientific  methods. 

4.  Prolapse  of  the  pelvic  colon ,  the  last 
loop  of  the  bowel,  is  a  very  common  cause  of 
obstinate  constipation.  When  adhesions  have 
formed,  an  operation  is  sometimes  necessary. 
The  pelvic  colon  must  rise  as  it  fills  to  enable 
it  to  empty  itself  naturally. 

5.  Adhesions  of  the  caecum. — The  head 
of  the  ceecum  receives  the  food  residues  from 
the  small  intestine  and  should  be  able  to  con- 
tract so  as  to  push  its  contents  up  and  around 
the  liver  angle  of  the  colon.  When  the  cgecum 
is  adherent  it  cannot  contract  and  the  residues 
accumulate  in  the  bowel  and  only  move  along 
the  colon  as  pushed  forward  by  accumulating 
material  continually  entering  from  the  small 
intestine. 

6.  Adhesions  of  the  appendix  bind  and 
cripple  the  colon  the  same  as  adhesions  of  the 
caecum.      This    is    perhaps    the    reason    why 


120      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

chronic  appendicitis  is  always  accompanied 
by  constipation.  Persons  who  have  been  ope- 
rated for  appendicitis  usually  suffer  from  con- 
stipation perhaps  because  of  adhesions  of  the 
cascum  resulting  from  the  operation. 

7.  A  dilated  or  a  pouched  caecum  is 
equally  crippling.  The  over-stretched  bowel 
loses  its  contractile  power. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  also  that  the  ap- 
pendix is  an  important  part  of  the  lubricating 
system  of  the  colon.  The  loss  of  the  abundant 
supply  of  lubricating  mucus  which  it  normally 
furnishes   may   be   a   cause   of   constipation. 

Constipation  of  a  very  obstinate  sort  is 
found  in  most  cases  in  which  the  appendix  has 
been  removed  or  in  which  it  is  the  subject  of 
chronic  disease.  In  such  cases  the  colon  is  per- 
manently crippled  by  the  loss  of  this  very 
essential  feature  of  its  lubricating  mechanism. 

In  such  a  cascal  pouch  putrid  matters  ac- 
cumulate and  become  extremely  virulent. 
The  CEecum  becomes  a  sort  of  cesspool  in 
which  decomposable  residues  may  remain  for 
several  days  or  longer. 

A  proper  change  in  diet  and  special  meas- 
ures of  various  sort  greatly  improve  this  con- 
dition but  in  many  cases  it  is  necessary  to 


CHRONIC  CONSTIPATION  121 

wash  out  the  colon  by  means  of  an  enema  daily 
or  at  least  every  other  day.  These  cases  are 
not  relieved  by  laxatives.  The  enema  is  the 
only  unfailing  method.  The  daily  use  of  the 
cool  enema  is  not  in  any  way  injurious  and 
may  be  continued  indefinitely  without  harm. 

8.  An  incompetent  ileocecal  valve  is  both 
a  consequence  and  a  cause  of  constipation. 
This  interesting  structure  acts  as  a  check  valve 
and  thus  makes  possible  the  uniform  advance- 
ment of  the  bowel  content.  When  the  valve 
is  broken  down  and  incompetent  the  material 
which  enters  the  colon  from  the  small  bowel 
returns  to  the  small  intestine  when  the  bowel 
contracts,  and  surges  back  and  forth  without 
making  definite  progress.  Gases  are  espe- 
cially troublesome.  When  the  colon  con- 
tracts, its  contents  are  expelled  at  both  ends, 
at  the  lower  externally,  at  the  upper  into  the 
small  bowel. 

Tumors,  cancer,  adhesions  and  obstructive 
"kinks"  are  other  recognized  but  rare  causes 
of  obstinate  constipation. 

Fortunately,  this  long  list  of  colon  condi- 
tions is  really  not  so  formidable  as  it  looks. 
Two  very  simple  remedies  will  almost  always 
accomplish  a  cure.    These  are  bulk  and  lubri- 


122      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

cation.  The  bulk  is  found  in  sterilized  bran 
or  agar-agar;  the  lubrication  in  paraffin  oil. 
These  remedies  must  be  systematically  used, 
at  every  single  meal,  unfailingly,  and  in  such 
quantity  as  may  be  needed  to  produce  the 
results  required.  Large  amounts  are  some- 
times necessary  at  first. 

It  is  highly  important  to  have  an  X-ray 
examination  of  the  colon  made  in  all  cases  of 
obstinate  constipation  so  that  the  exact  condi- 
tion present  may  be  discovered.  With  this 
highly  important  knowledge  in  his  possession, 
the  up-to-date  physician  is  now  able  to  deal 
successfully  with  practically  every  case  of  con- 
stipation. Operation  is  sometimes  required, 
but  only  in  very  rare  cases. 


X-RAY  VIEWS  OF  THE  FOOD 
TUBE 

Since  scientific  observation  has  fixed  the 
normal  time  for  the  food  transit  and  has 
worked  out  the  actual  time  table  so  that  we 
know  when  the  food  or  food  residues  of  a 
meal  should  arrive  at  each  particular  station, 
it  becomes  a  matter  of  great  interest  to  have 
some  method  by  means  of  which  we  may  check 
up  the  progress  of  a  meal  along  the  food  tube 
and  note  the  time  of  arrival  at  the  different 
stations  and  the  time  occupied  by  the  whole 
journey  from  the  entrance  to  exit,  the  so- 
called  "motility  period."  This  has  come  to  be 
a  matter  of  the  greatest  moment  since  we  have 
been  made  acquainted  by  Metchnikoff,  Bou- 
chard and  others,  with  the  terrible  conse- 
quences which  result  from  delay  at  way  sta- 
tions, through  the  putrefaction  of  food  resi- 
dues, secretions,  wastes  and  partly  digested 
food  stuffs. 

Modern  science  has  provided  two  methods 
of  studying  "motility"  which  are  capable  of 
rendering  the  most  signal  service.  These  are 
the  X-ray  test  meal  and  the  color  test. 


124      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

X-Ray  Study  of  Motility 

This  test  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  cer- 
tain substances  are  opaque  to  the  X-rays  and 
cause  them  to  show  a  shadow  on  a  specially 
prepared  screen  or  on  a  photographic  plate. 

The  most  elaborate  and  complete  method 
of  X-ray  examination  of  the  colon  was  devised 
by  Dr.  James  T.  Case,  roentgenologist  of 
the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  (now  Lieut.- 
Colonel  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  Senior  Consultant 
in  Roentgenology  for  the  American  Expedi- 
tionary force  in  France,  to  whom  the  world  is 
greatly  indebted  for  many  important  observa- 
tions and  discoveries  in  connection  with  the  X- 
ray  study  of  the  stomach  and  colon. 

What  the  X-Ray  Expert  Sees 

An  X-ray  examination  of  a  person  with- 
out special  preparation  would  usually  show 
very  little  respecting  the  stomach  or  intestine 
for  the  reason  that  these  parts  are  practically 
transparent  to  the  X-rays.  Special  prepara- 
tion of  the  subject  must  be  made.  This  spe- 
cial preparation  consists  of  two  things;  com- 
lete  emptying  of  the  stomach  and  intestine 
and  second,  the  giving  to  the  patient  of  a  spe- 


X-RAY  VIEWS  OF  THE  FOOD  TUBE     125 

cial  meal,  which  usually  consists  of  a  pint  of 
gruel  of  some  sort  or  a  couple  of  glasses  of 
buttermilk  to  which  has  been  added  an  ounce 
or  two  of  bismuth  or  barium  in  fine  powder. 

These  mineral  substances,  as  well  as  others, 
are  opaque  to  the  X-ray.  That  is,  they  cast 
a  shadow.  The  stomach  and  intestines  being 
hollow  organs,  the  shadow  formed  by  the 
opaque  meal  takes  the  form  of  the  stomach 
or  of  that  part  of  the  intestine  in  which  it 
appears. 

When  a  person  who  has  taken  an  opaque 
meal  is  placed  in  the  X-ray  apparatus,  the 
shadow  of  the  meal  is  thrown  upon  a  screen 
under  the  eye  of  the  observer,  who  is  thus  able 
to  note  the  location  of  the  meal,  the  form  of 
the  part  in  which  it  is  located  and  to  compare 
it  with  the  normal,  and  likewise  to  observe  the 
changes  in  form  and  location  which  are  always 
taking  place. 

The  observer  begins  his  examination  by 
placing  the  subject  between  the  X-ray  tube 
and  a  fluorescent  screen  and  seats  himself  upon 
a  stool  in  front  of  the  screen.  The  subject  is 
now  given  the  test  meal,  and  as  he  swallows  it 
the  expert  watches  the  behavior  of  the  stomach 
as  each  morsel  enters.     In  health,  everything 


126      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

proceeds  in  the  most  orderly  fashion.  As  one 
morsel  succeeds  another,  it  passes  along  a 
definite  course  until  it  reaches  a  state  of  rest 
and  is  lost  in  the  accumulating  mass. 

The  reception  of  food  into  the  stomach 
starts  up  a  series  of  movements  which  should 
proceed  in  a  definite  and  well  known  order. 
Any  deviation  from  the  normal  standard  is 
quickly  noted  and  recorded. 

The  stomach  movements  are  not  so  rapid, 
however,  that  the  X-ray  cannot  catch  them 
on  the  screen  and  record  them  on  a  photo- 
graphic plate. 

The  observer  notes  with  the  greatest  care 
the  behavior  of  the  stomach  as  the  food  passes 
out  of  the  pylorus  and  of  the  small  intestine, 
the  duodenum,  as  the  food  enters  it.  The  ac- 
tion of  the  pylorus  is  watched  with  special  care 
since  it  is  at  or  near  this  point  that  many  of 
the  most  troublesome  changes  in  the  stomach 
occur.  There  may  be  deformities  due  to  ulcer 
or  cancer,  obstruction,  or  other  departures 
from  the  normal. 

The  duodenum  is  carefully  scrutinized  for 
the  presence  of  ulcer  or  adhesions  which  may 
obstruct  or  delay  the  passage  of  food  through 
it. 


X-RAY  VIEWS  OF  THE  FOOD  TUBE      127 

After  a  thorough  initial  scrutiny  the  sub- 
ject is  released  and  asked  to  return  at  stated 
intervals  during  the  day  when  the  observa- 
tions made  show  the  progress  of  the  test  meal 
along  the  road  from  stomach  to  colon. 

The  observations  are  renewed  the  next  day, 
at  less  frequent  intervals,  to  note  the  length  of 
time  the  food  residues  remain  in  the  colon  and 
any  obstructive  conditions  that  may  exist. 

The  ileocecal  valve,  the  caecum,  the  ap- 
pendix, the  several  parts  of  the  colon,  ascen- 
ding, transverse,  descending,  and  pelvic  colon 
and  the  rectum,  all  are  carefully  inspected. 
By  means  of  pressure  applied  at  various  points 
the  absence  or  presence  of  adhesions  is  deter- 
mined. When  adhesions  are  present,  the  mo- 
bility of  the  various  organs  is  lessened;  that 
is,  they  cannot  be  moved  about  as  freely  as  in 
normal  conditions.  For  example,  when  ulcers 
of  the  duodenum  of  a  serious  character  are 
present,  it  is  not  uncommon  for  the  X-ray  ex- 
pert to  find  adhesions  about  the  duodenum 
which  bind  the  duodenum  and  restrict  the  mo- 
bility of  the  stomach.  In  chronic  inflamma- 
tion of  the  gall-bladder,  the  adjacent  parts, 
stomach,  liver,  duodenum,  and  gall-bladder, 
and  sometimes  the  colon  and  other  parts  are 


128      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

very  likely  to  be  bound  tightly  together  by 
adhesions. 

The  small  intestines,  the  cgeeum,  the  ap- 
pendix, the  transverse  colon,  and  the  pelvic 
colon  are  also  studied  with  great  care  with  re- 
ference to  adhesions,  which  in  these  parts  are 
often  the  source  of  great  mischief  and  chronic 
disorders,  especially  autointoxication  from 
most  obstinate  constipation. 

The  size  and  form  of  the  various  parts  of 
the  colon  are  of  great  signifiance  and  are  most 
carefully  noted  as  well  as  the  position  of  the 
several  parts.  The  accompanying  cuts  show 
better  than  any  description  some  of  the  var- 
ious wonderful  things  which  a  really  expert 
roentgenologist  is  able  to  see  by  means  of  the 
X-ray. 

The  patient  is  examined  at  stated  intervals 
until  the  last  trace  of  bismuth  has  disappeared 
from  the  alimentary  tract.  Sometimes  a  dis- 
eased appendix  retains  traces  of  bismuth  for 
several  days  after  it  has  disappeared  from 
other  parts. 

Finally  a  bismuth  enema  is  given  while  the 
expert  watches  the  behavior  of  the  colon  as 
the  enema  enters.  This  part  of  the  examina- 
tion is  highly  important  as  it  may  reveal  the 


X-RAY  VIEWS  OF  THE  FOOD  TUBE      129 

presence  of  cancer  or  adhesions  or  other  causes 
of  mechanical  obstruction,  as  well  as  deform- 
ities of  the  gut,  pouches,  dilations,  "kinks," 
etc.  and  in  many  cases  incompetency  of  the 
ileocecal  valve. 

Besides  these  "fleuroscopic"  observations, 
plates  are  made,  roentgenograms,  which  reveal 
some  things  not  otherwise  discoverable,  and 
form  a  permanent  record. 

The  information  which  may  be  obtained 
by  a  careful  X-ray  study  of  the  interior  of  the 
body,  especially  of  the  abdomen,  is  often  of 
greater  importance  and  value  than  what 
might  be  learned  by  opening  the  abdomen 
and  viewing  the  parts  with  the  eye.  The  X- 
ray  gives  information  about  conditions  which 
are  beyond  the  reach  of  the  eye  even  with  the 
organs  in  sight. 

But  emphasis  should  be  laid  upon  the  fact 
that  an  X-ray  apparatus  alone  is  not  sufficient 
to  secure  useful  information.  A  well-trained 
X-ray  expert  as  well  as  an  up-to-date  appar- 
atus must  be  on  the  job. 

The  X-ray  only  makes  shadows.  The  ex- 
pert must  interpret  the  shadows.  Long  years 
of  training  and  education  of  the  eye  to  observe 
line  distinctions  of  light  and  shade,  and  deep 


130      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

study  of  physiology  and  pathology  as  well  as 
of  the  physics  and  the  technic  of  the  X-ray 
are  essential  to  success.  Only  such  an  expert 
can  be  trusted. 

A  tyro  misinterprets  what  he  sees.  The 
minute  indications  of  disease  he  overlooks, 
and  unusual  but  perfectly  normal  appear- 
ances he  mistakes  for  cancer  or  some  other 
dreadful  condition  for  which  he  urges  imme- 
diate operation. 

Unfortunately  the  country  is  full  of  X- 
ray  tyros,  thanks  to  the  commercial  activity 
of  X-ray  machine  manufacturers.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  at  the  present  moment  the  conclu- 
sions drawn  from  the  majority  of  X-ray  ex- 
aminations of  the  colon  are  altogether  unreli- 
able and  worthless,  if  not  positively  mislead- 
ing, and  a  menace  to  the  patient's  welfare  if 
made  a  basis  for  active  treatment  or  operation. 

Beware  of  the  X-ray  tyro.  There  are  in 
the  United  States  possibly  one  hundred  X- 
ray  specialists  whose  examinations  of  the  ali- 
mentary canal  may  be  regarded  as  of  ralue 
and  whose  conclusions  may  be  trusted  as  fair- 
ly reliable;  but  the  chances  are  very  great 
that  our  estimate  is  far  too  large. 


X-RAY  VIEWS  OF  THE  FOOD  TUBE     131 

A  SIMPLE  "MOTILITY"  TEST 

The  time  which  elapses  after  a  test  meal 
is  taken  before  the  discharge  of  the  indigestible 
residues  is  termed  the  motility  period  of  the 
food  tube,  that  is,  the  time  required  for  the 
complete  journey  from  entrance  to  exit. 

Several  writers  have  placed  the  motility 
period  at  fifty  hours.  It  is  evident,  however, 
that  these  authorities  were  dealing  with  con- 
stipated persons,  those  whose  bowels  move 
once  a  day.  When  the  bowels  move  in  a  nor- 
mal manner,  or  three  or  four  times  daily,  the 
motility  period  is  shortened.  In  the  writer's 
opinion,  24  to  25  hours  should  be  regarded  as 
the  outside  limit  for  normal  motility,  and 
really  normal  bowel  activity,  as  elsewhere  ob- 
served, may  be  reckoned  as  14  to  16  hours. 

Thousands  of  persons  whose  bowels  move 
daily  would  be  surprised  to  find  on  examina- 
tion of  their  motility  a  period  of  two  to  three 
days  or  even  more.  Not  infrequently  the 
period  is  lengthened  to  five  or  six  days. 

The  value  of  this  information  is  so  great 
that  in  the  writer's  opinion  every  adult  person 
should  have  the  test  applied,  especially  if  at 
all  constipated. 


132      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Fortunately  we  are  in  possession  of  a  very 
simple  and  efficient  means  of  applying  the 
test.  A  capsule  containing  fifteen  grams  of 
carmine  is  swallowed  just  before  breakfast. 
At  each  bowel  movement  thereafter  the  color 
is  observed.  The  time  is  noted  when  the  red 
color  is  first  seen  and  also  the  time  when  it  is 
last  seen.  This  test  is  so  simple  it  may  be  ap- 
plied by  any  intelligent  person. 


RULES  FOR  CARE  OF  THE 
COLON 

The  following  rules  have  been  tested  for 
years  at  the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  and 
have  been  found  to  be  efficient,  although  there 
are  occasionally  found  cases  in  which  the 
causes  of  the  constipation  are  mechanical  and 
require  surgical  relief: — 

1.  Intestinal  inactivity,  or  constipation, 
results  in  autointoxication,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  active  of  all  causes  of  chronic  disease. 
Every  chronic  invalid  should  take  special  care 
to  secure  frequent  and  regular  action  of  the 
bowels,  at  least  three  full  movements  daily. 

2.  An  effort  should  be  made  to  move  the 
bowels  soon  after  breakfast,  whether  or  not 
there  is  a  "call"  for  bowel  movement,  and  at 
any  other  time  when  even  a  slight  "call"  is 
experienced.  A  persevering  effort  should  be 
made  to  secure  three  movements  daily  and  at 
regular  times. 

3.  Cellulose  (the  indigestible  part  of  vege- 
table food)  is  the  only  element  which  can  in^ 
crease  the  bulk  of  the  feces.  One  to  two  ounces 
of  cellulose  are  needed  daily.  Bran  and  agar- 
agar  are  good  forms  of  cellulose. 


134      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

4.  Normally,  the  bowels  move  after  each 
meal,  and  sometimes  just  after  rising.  The 
largest  movement  generally  occurs  soon  af- 
ter breakfast. 

5.  Many  persons  are  suffering  from  con- 
stipation who  are  not  aware  of  the  fact.  There 
are  several  forms  of  constipation:  (a)  simple 
constipation,  in  which  the  bowels  are  only 
somewhat  sluggish  or  irregular  in  action;  (b) 
cumulative  or  rectal  constipation,,  in  which 
normal  movement  of  the  bowels  is  prevented  by 
accumulation  of  masses  of  feces  in  the  "rec- 
tum" or  "pelvic"  colon;  and  (c)  latent  consti- 
pation, in  which  the  bowels  move  daily  but 
without  complete  evacuation  of  the  colon,  es- 
pecially of  the  lower  colon  which  always  occurs 
in  normal  defecation.  Not  infrequently,  the 
symptoms  peculiar  to  latent  and  cumulative 
constipation  are  found  present  together.  It  is 
highly  important  in  every  case  of  constipation 
that  such  examinations  shall  be  made  as  will 
determine  the  cause  of  the  constipation.  It  is 
only  by  the  aid  of  such  examinations  that  it  be- 
comes possible  to  make  a  successful  applica- 
tion of  curative  means. 

6.  Meals  must  be  regular  in  time  and 
amount  of  food  taken.    Food  is  the  physiologic 


RULES  FOR  CARE  OF  THE  COLON   135 

laxative.  A  scanty  meal  or  the  omission  of  a 
meal  usually  results  in  the  interruption  of  the 
intestinal  rhythm, — omission  of  a  movement, 
or  an  incomplete  movement. 

7.  Fasting,  a  scanty  diet  (less  than  1600 
calories)  a  liquid  diet  (milk,  gruels,  por- 
ridges ) ,  a  diet  chiefly  consisting  of  such  foods 
as  potatoes,  rice,  meat,  eggs,  tea,  coffee  and 
condiments,  are  constipating. 

8.  Green  vegetables  (excepting  the  po- 
tato) contain  much  cellulose,  especially  the 
beet  root,  turnip,  parsnip,  spinach,  cabbage, 
brussels  sprouts,  and  lettuce;  these  foods  are 
laxative. 

9.  Whole  grain  preparations  are  rich  in 
cellulose.  Scotch  brose  (oatmeal  cooked  six 
minutes)  is  an  excellent  laxative  food. 

10.  Half  the  bulk  of  dried  feces  consists 
of  food  residues,  the  other  half  of  germs  and 
of  poisonous  matter  excreted  by  the  intestines, 
which  should  be  gotten  rid  of  as  soon  as  poss- 
ible. This  is  especially  important  in  cases  of 
colitis,  since  the  intestinal  mucous  membrane 
is  diseased,  and  in  all  cases  of  chronic  disease, 
particularly  in  cases  of  autointoxication, 
Bright's  disease,  arteriosclerosis,  disease  of  the 
liver,  skin,  thyroid  gland,  heart,  and  lungs. 


136      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

11.  Exercise  promotes  bowel  action,  espe- 
cially walking,  horseback  riding,  gymnasium 
exercises,  and  such  exercises  as  trunk  bending, 
leg  raising  and  deep  breathing.  Exercises 
and  deep  breathing  movements  taken  on  the 
inclined  table  are  especially  helpful,  and 
should  be  practiced  systematically  and  two  or 
three  times  daily. 

12.  The  cold  morning  bath  often  aids 
bowel  action.  Various  other  means  are  highly 
beneficial,  such  as  massage  of  the  colon,  vibra- 
tion and  kneading  of  the  abdomen,  and  special 
exercises  of  the  abdominal  muscles.  In  special 
cases,  application  of  electricity  to  the  ab- 
dominal muscles,  also  to  the  rectum  and  the 
pelvic  colon  should  be  made. 

13.  In  cases  in  which  the  abdominal  mus- 
cles are  relaxed,  and  the  colon  and  other  por- 
tions of  the  intestine  are  prolapsed,  an  efficient 
abdominal  supporter  should  be  worn  either 
permanently  or  until  the  abdominal  muscles 
have  become  strong  enough  to  hold  the  viscera 
in  position. 

14.  Drugs  of  all  sorts  must  be  avoided. 
They  do  not  cure,  and  do  much  harm  when 
repeatedly  used.  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
a  harmless  laxative  drug.    Mineral  waters  and 


RULES  FOR  CARE  OF  THE  COLON   137 

saline  laxatives  as  well  as  other  drugs  are 
harmful,  and  produce  enteritis  and  colitis 
sooner  or  later.  They  congest  the  mucous 
membrane  and  thus  lead  to  autointoxication. 

15.  Agar-agar  and  paraffin  are  natural 
and  harmless  and  may  be  regarded  as  supple- 
mentary foods.  They  are  not  digestible  and 
have  no  influence  upon  digestion,  except  to 
encourage  bowel  action. 

16.  Agar-agar  (cellulose)  aids  bowel  ac- 
tion by  preventing  drying  and  supplying 
bulk.  It  also  absorbs  and  carries  off  toxins. 
Paraffin  lubricates  the  colon,  protects  the 
diseased  mucous  membrane  and  hinders  ab- 
sorption of  poisons  and  dissolves  and  carries 
off  the  toxins  of  putrefaction.  These  are 
harmless  substances,  which  may  be  used  con- 
tinuously without  injury,  and  by  regular  use 
render  possible  the  training  of  the  bowels  to 
normal  action. 

17.  In  cases  in  which  the  measures  above 
indicated  do  not  secure  prompt  relief  from 
constipation,  an  X-ray  examination  by  aid  of 
the  bismuth  meal  should  be  made.  By  this 
means,  a  minute  inspection  of  every  part  of 
the  intestine  is  possible.  In  many  cases 
"kinks,"    folds,    contractions,    adhesions,    dis- 


138      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

placements,  and  other  impediments  to  normal 
bowel  action  are  found,  which  may  be  cor- 
rected by  application  of  special  measures. 
Such  an  examination  should  be  made  in  all 
cases  of  obstinate  constipation. 

18.  The  squatting  position,  secured  by 
using  a  raised  foot-rest  in  front  of  the  closet 
seat  is  a  great  aid  to  bowel  movement,  espe- 
cially in  cases  in  which  the  abdominal  muscles 
are  relaxed,  a  condition  most  common  in 
chronic  constipation. 

19.  If  the  bowels  do  not  move  three 
times  a  day  constipation  exists.  The  consti- 
pation may  be  latent.  It  is  necessary  not 
only  that  the  bowels  should  move,  but  that  the 
colon  should  be  completely  emptied.  A 
simple  test  which  any  one  may  employ  is 
this:  After  a  bowel  movement,  take  a  warm 
enema,  using  about  three  pints  of  water. 
About  five  minutes  should  be  occupied  in  fill- 
ing the  colon.  Note  the  quantity  and  char- 
acter of  the  evacuation  which  follows.  Often 
a  surprisingly  large  amount  of  black,  very 
foul  smelling  material  will  be  brought  down 
from  an  enlarged  or  pouched  csecum  where 
it  has  been  retained  perhaps  for  days.  Such 
accumulations    are    an    exceedingly   common 


RULES  FOR  CARE  OF  THE  COLON       139 

cause  of  headaches,  "biliousness,"  coated 
tongue,  loss  of  appetite,  and  other  toxic  symp- 
toms. 

Do  not  forget  that  normal  bowel  action  is 
at  least  three  full  evacuations  daily. 

Food  wastes  should  never  be  retained 
more  than  twenty-five  or  twenty-six  hours 
at  the  longest  and  the  normal  period  is  prob- 
ably sixteen  hours  or  less. 

Constipation  is  one  of  the  greatest  causes 
of  disease,  misery,  inefficiency  and  premature 
senility,  and  should  be  most  earnestly  com- 
bated. By  a  persevering  effort  and  the  appli- 
cation of  known  and  well  tested  measures, 
every  case  of  constipation  may  he  relieved. 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA— 

WHEN   AND   WHY   IT 

MUST  BE  CHANGED 

Pasteur  discovered  that  the  intestinar 
tract  is  swarming  with  bacteria.  Strassburger 
and  other  more  recent  investigators  have 
estimated  the  number  of  these  organisms  pro- 
duced in  the  intestinal  tract  daily  to  be  not 
less  than  150,000,000,000,000,  and  doubtless 
the  number  is  sometimes  much  greater. 
Pasteur  believed  and  taught  that  these  count- 
less millions  of  minute  organisms  were  useful 
and  even  necessary  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
body  in  health,  that  they  rendered  valuable 
and  essential  assistance  in  the  process  of  di- 
gestion. More  recent  studies,  however,  have 
shown  that  Pasteur  was  in  error. 

Levin,  in  the  study  of  Arctic  animals  at 
Spitzbergen,  showed  that  more  than  50  per 
cent  of  the  animals  in  that  region  have  no 
bacteria  in  the  intestinal  tract.  Nuttall  and 
Thierfelder  showed  that  guinea  pigs  brought 
into  the  world  by  Caesarian  section  may  be 
made  to  grow  without  contact  with  bacteria. 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  141 

Cohendy  has  quite  recently  shown  that 
chickens  hatched  from  eggs  free  from  bac- 
teria may  be  raised  and  made  to  thrive  on 
food  and  drink  in  an  atmosphere  entirely  free 
from  germs.  It  is  now  clearly  established 
that  we  do  not  live  by  the  aid  of  the  germs 
that  throng  our  intestines  and  swarm  upon 
the  surface  of  the  body,  but  rather  that  we 
live  in  spite  of  these  microbic  enemies. 

Two   Classes — Fermentation   Germs  and 
Putrefaction  Germs 

The  germs  that  are  ordinarily  found  in  the 
human  intestine  may  be  divided  into  two 
classes;  namely,  fermentation  germs  and 
putrefaction  germs.  Fermentation  germs 
feed  upon  carbohydrates;  that  is,  starch, 
sugar  and  dextrin;  while  putrefaction  germs 
feed  upon  protein — such  substances  as  the 
white  of  eggs,  the  lean  of  meat,  and  the  curd 
of  milk.  Roughly  speaking,  we  may  say  that 
fermentation  germs  feed  upon  vegetable  and 
putrefaction  germs  upon  animal  substances. 

These  two  classes  of  germs  differ  very 
widely  in  their  characteristics  and  their  re- 
lation to  the  human  body  is  in  each  case  based 
upon  the  substances  which  they  produce  by 


142      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

their  activity.  Fermentation  germs  produce 
for  the  most  part  acids,  especially  lactic  and 
acetic  acids,  which,  in  the  small  quantities 
in  which  they  are  produced  in  the  body,  are 
practically  harmless.  Putrefaction  germs,  on 
the  other  hand,  produce  by  the  decomposition 
of  proteins,  especially  when  acting  upon  ani- 
mal proteins,  highly  poisonous  toxins,  many 
of  which  closely  resemble  the  venom  of  snakes 
and  minute  quantities  of  which  are  capable  of 
producing  the  most  alarming  and  distressing 
symptoms. 

Poisoning  from  Putrefying  Colon 
Contents 

A  good  illustration  of  the  ill  effects  of 
minute  doses  of  these  poisons  is  found  in  the 
unpleasant  symptoms  experienced  by  contact 
with  putrescible  substances,  for  example,  the 
odors  arising  from  a  dead  rat  in  a  closet  or 
under  the  floor,  although  greatly  diluted  with 
air,  may  give  rise  to  headache,  loss  of  appe- 
tite, nausea,  and  other  unpleasant  effects. 
The  sickening  effects  of  the  odors  arising 
from  the  fecal  discharges  of  a  dog  or  cat,  or 
of  a  person  accustomed  to  the  free  use  of 
meat,  clearly  demonstrate  the  potency  of  these 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  143 

subtle  poisons.  The  bowel  discharges  of  a 
meat-eater,  exposed  in  a  closed  room,  would 
in  an  hour  or  two  render  the  place  intolerable, 
even  to  a  very  robust  person.  The  writer  has 
known  vigorous  young  men  to  be  made  very 
ill  with  violent  attacks  of  headache  through  a 
few  hours'  contact  with  such  material  in  lab- 
oratory work.  A  moment's  consideration 
will  show  that  such  corrupt  and  putrescent 
matters  must  be  capable  of  producing  much 
greater  mischief  when  in  the  body  than  after 
removal  from  it.  If  the  mere  breathing  of 
the  greatly  diluted  volatile  poisons  arising 
from  such  putrescent  matter  will  produce 
highly  unpleasant  effects,  how  much  more 
grave  must  be  the  effects  when  through  the 
retention  within  the  body  of  these  foul  sub- 
stances all  of  their  poisonous  contents  are  ab- 
sorbed and  sucked  up  into  the  blood  and  circu- 
lated throughout  the  body!  In  other  words, 
when  a  person  through  constipation  throws  off 
through  the  lungs,  kidneys  and  skin  a  large 
part  of  the  poisonous  matters  which  ought  to 
have  been  discharged  through  the  bowel,  how 
great  must  be  the  mischief  done!  There  is 
abundant  reason  for  believing  that  the  poison- 
ing of  the  body,  or  so-called  autointoxication, 


144      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

which  results  from  the  absorption  of  poisons 
from  the  intestine,  is  the  chief  cause  of  most 
chronic  diseases  and  of  premature  senility  and 
decay,  as  well  as  a  very  potent  and  predis- 
posing cause  of  many  acute  maladies. 

Protective  Germs 

Normal  human  beings  are  born  into  the 
world  entirely  free  from  bacteria.  Not  a 
single  germ  is  found  in  the  interior  of  the 
new-born  infant.  Within  a  few  hours  after 
birth  (four  to  six  hours  in  summer,  and 
twenty  hours  in  winter)  the  intestines  of  the 
infant  are  found  to  be  swarming  with  bac- 
teria, the  study  of  which,  by  Tissier,  Esche- 
rich  and  numerous  other  investigators  has 
shown  to  be  of  the  harmless  sort — ^namely, 
the  fermentation  germs,  or  acid-formers.  It 
is  the  presence  of  these  germs  that  gives  to 
the  stools  of  a  healthy  young  infant  a  slightly 
sour  odor.  A  portion  of  the  bowel  discharges 
of  the  young  infant  added  to  milk  does  not 
cause  putrefaction  of  the  milk,  but  simply 
souring  or  fermentation.  These  acid-forming 
germs  play  a  protective  role.  Thanks  to  their 
presence  in  the  intestine,  the  putrefaction 
germs  cannot  thrive,  for  these  organisms  can- 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  145 

not  grow  in  the  presence  of  acids.  An  alka- 
line medium  is  needed  to  promote  their 
growth.  Hence,  so  long  as  acid-forming 
germs  keep  possession  of  its  intestine  the  in- 
fant is  safe  from  the  destructive  effects  of  the 
putrefaction  germs,  or  poison-formers,  which 
are  the  cause  of  diarrhea  and  most  other  in- 
fant troubles.  When  by  the  use  of  cow's  milk 
(that  is,  ordinary  commercial  milk),  or  by 
other  errors  in  feeding,  such  as  the  giving  of 
meat  or  fish,  overwhelming  numbers  of  pu- 
trefaction germs  are  introduced  into  the  in- 
testine and  the  infant's  stools  become  dark- 
colored  and  bad-smelling,  then  the  experi- 
enced mother  or  nurse,  as  well  as  the  doctor, 
knows  that  the  child,  if  not  already  sick,  will 
soon  be  sick,  and  the  sickness  will  be  due  to 
the  poisons  produced  by  these  enemies  of  life, 
the  germs  of  putrefaction. 

As  the  child  advances  in  years  the  putre- 
faction germs  increase  in  number  in  the  intes- 
tine. Through  the  use  of  meat,  highly  active 
putrefaction  germs  are  introduced  into  the 
intestine  and  grow  and  multiply  in  great  num- 
bers, so  that  the  stools  become  very  offensive 
and  chronic  autointoxication  results.  The 
ultimate  effects  are  constipation,  colitis,  so- 


146      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

called  biliousness,  gastritis,  inflammation  of 
the  gall  ducts,  gall  stones,  skin  diseases  of  vari- 
ous sorts,  neurasthenia,  and  in  later  years 
Bright's  disease,  hardening  of  the  arteries,  high 
blood-pressure,  apoplexy,  paralysis,  insomnia, 
mental  depression,  and  even  insanity. 

The  Cause  of  Old  Age 

Metchnikoff  has  clearly  shown  that  these 
putrefaction  germs  are  the  cause  of  early 
senility,  premature  old  age  and  death. 
Among  the  worst  of  the  putrefaction  germs 
which  are  commonly  found  in  the  intestine  in 
the  diseased  conditions  of  adult  life  are  the 
bacillus  coli,  Welch's  bacillus,  bacillus  pro- 
teus,  bacillus  subtilis,  streptococcus,  entero- 
coccus,  bacillus  putrificus,  bacillus  paracolic 
and  sometimes  the  typhoid  bacillus.  All  of 
these  germs  produce  most  virulent  poisons, 
and  when  present  in  the  feces  in  large  num- 
bers they  are  certain  proof  of  the  existence  of 
chronic  intestinal  autointoxication,  even 
though  the  characteristic  symptoms  of  auto- 
intoxicaton  have  not  yet  appeared.  A  coated 
tongue,  a  sallow  complexion,  dark  circles 
around  the  eyes,  appearance  of  brown  spots 
upon  the  hands  or  other  parts  (the  so-called 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  147 

liver  spots),  offensive  breath  and  perspira- 
tion, the  discharge  of  foul-smelling  gases  from 
the  bowels,  putrid  stools,  a  thin,  inelastic, 
parchment-like  skin,  dullness  of  mind,  inabil- 
ity to  concentrate  the  mind,  mental  irritability 
or  depression  without  cause,  cold  hands  and 
feet,  perspiration  of  the  hands  and  feet, 
chronic  headache,  attacks  of  migraine  or  sick 
headache — these  and  a  score  of  other  symp- 
toms which  might  be  mentioned  are  certain 
indications  of  chronic  poisoning,  prompt  at- 
tention to  which  may  prevent  the  develop- 
ment of  later  more  serious  conditions,  such 
as  hardening  of  the  arteries,  Bright's  disease, 
with  albumen  and  casts  in  the  urine,  or 
apoplexy  with  paralysis.  Grave  symptoms 
of  autointoxication  do  not  appear  until  after 
the  mechanism  of  the  body,  through  which 
nature  deals  with  poisons,  destroying  and 
eliminating  them,  has  broken  down  and  failed 
to  accomplish  its  purpose  as  a  result  of  the 
overwhelming  amount  of  work  which  has 
been  thrown  upon  it.  Hence,  the  appearance 
of  symptoms  of  autointoxication  indicates 
that  the  body  has  already  become  crippled  and 
that  the  matter  must  receive  serious  and  im- 
mediate attention. 


148      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Refoeming  the  Intestinajl  Flora 

Eminent  progressive  medical  men  the 
world  over  are  rapidly  coming  to  recognize 
that  changing  the  intestinal  flora  is  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  treatment  of  all  forms 
of  chronic  disease  and  that  in  the  great  ma- 
jority of  chronic  diseases  it  is  the  one  es- 
sential thing.  Modern  researches  have  clearly 
shown  that  the  great  benefit  that  has  been 
known  to  be  derived  from  those  methods  of 
treatment  which  have  been  most  successful 
have  really  been  due  to  the  influence  of  these 
measures  upon  the  intestinal  flora. 

We  may  mention,  for  example,  the  tem- 
porary benefit  derived  by  the  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  persons  who  annually  visit  mineral 
springs,  the  waters  of  which  possess  laxative 
properties.  Such  resorts  are  popular  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  and  the  benefit  derived 
from  the  use  of  their  waters  is  sufficient  to 
attract  countless  multitudes  of  visitors  year 
after  year;  but  that  these  patients  are  never 
cured,  no  matter  how  much  temporary  benefit 
they  may  derive  from  the  thorough  emptying 
of  their  intestines  and  the  unloading  of  ac- 
cumulated poisons,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  149 

they  always  return,  often  being  compelled  to 
return  at  increasingly  frequent  intervals,  the 
effect  of  mineral  water  as  well  as  of  other  laxa- 
tives being  to  produce  colitis,  or  infection  of 
the  colon  thus  in  the  end  doing  great  harm. 

Results  of  Changing  the  Flora 

Again,  we  find  in  the  remarkable  effects 
which  have  been  obtained  by  various  special 
dietaries  an  equally  good  illustration  of  the 
curative  value  of  means  which  influence  the 
intestinal  flora.  The  grape  cure,  the  apple, 
peach,  cherry  and  other  fruit  cures,  the  milk, 
buttermilk  and  whey  cures — all  of  these  cures 
operate  through  their  influence  upon  the  in- 
testinal flora.  The  same  statement  may  also 
apply  to  the  raw  food  cure,  which  acquired 
considerable  vogue  some  years  ago. 

Fruits  and  milk  are  substances  which  fer- 
ment but  do  not  putrefy.  Hence,  when  the 
diet  is  exclusively  confined  to  these  articles, 
fermentative  changes  rather  than  putrefac- 
tion take  place  in  the  intestine,  acids  are 
formed  instead  of  poisons,  and  for  the  time 
being  the  body  is  delivered  from  the  destruct- 
ive influence  of  the  highly  potent  toxins  pro- 
duced   by    putrefactive    germs    when    active 


150      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

either  within  the  body  or  outside  of  it.  Raw 
foods  of  a  vegetable  character  are  alive  and 
hence  able  to  resist  the  action  of  bacteria. 
Vegetable  foods  taken  in  raw  or  uncooked 
state  are  digested  before  it  is  possible  for 
them  to  undergo  destructive  changes,  and  thus 
their  use  discourages  the  growth  of  bacteria  in 
the  intestine,  especially  those  of  the  putre- 
factive sort.  There  are  also  other  benefits 
from  the  use  of  uncooked  food. 

Dangerous  Germs  Made  Harmless 

Bienstock  showed  that  the  colon  germs, 
which,  in  the  presence  of  protein  (meat,  eggs, 
etc.),  produce  indol  and  other  highly  active 
poisons  capable  of  causing  hardening  of  the 
arteries,  headache,  probably  Bright's  disease, 
and  numerous  other  disorders,  are,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  sugar,  incapable  of  producing  these 
poisonous  substances,  producing  instead 
harmless  acids. 

Sir  Lauder  Brunton,  of  England,  and 
more  recently  Kennan,  in  this  country,  have 
shown  that  this  is  true  of  practically  all  putre- 
factive germs;  that  is,  the  germs  which  cause 
putrefaction  when  growing  on  protein  will, 
if  supplied  with  a  sufficient  amount  of  sugar, 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  151 

cease  to  produce  putrefactive  poisons  and 
produce  fermentation  with  harmless  acids  in- 
stead. In  other  words,  putrefaction  germs 
may  be  reformed  by  simply  feeding  them 
with  sugar.  This  explains  the  fact  that  eggs, 
which  of  all  substances  most  readily  undergo 
putrefaction,  may  be  perfectly  preserved  by 
the  addition  of  sugar.  It  also  explains  the 
fact  that  the  pioneer  housewife  and  the  no- 
madic Arab  are  able  to  maintain  a  supply  of 
fresh  meat  by  inmiersing  cutlets  in  cow's  milk 
or  camel's  milk.  The  writer  has  in  his  posses- 
sion a  beefsteak  which  has  been  kept  in  a  state 
of  perfect  preservation  for  twelve  years  (since 
June,  1906) ,  by  immersion  in  buttermilk  made 
from  a  culture  of  the  Bacillus  Bulgaricus  (the 
buttermilk  has  been  changed  frequently). 

It  appears,  then,  that  putrefactive  organ- 
isms, which  are  now  recognized  as  among  the 
most  common  and  deadly  enemies  of  human 
life,  may  actually  become  harmless  and  even 
useful  by  supplying  them  with  sugar,  pro- 
vided this  can  be  done  at  the  proper  time  and 
in  the  proper  place.  The  proportion  of  sugar 
must  be  at  least  two  per  cent. 


152      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

How  TO   Change  the  Intestinal  Flora 

After  studying  this  question  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  or  ever  since  the  appearance  of 
Bouchard's  great  work,  "Autointoxication  in 
Disease,  or  Self-Poisoning  of  the  Individual," 
the  writer  became  fully  persuaded  that  it  is 
possible  to  change  the  intestinal  flora,  and 
that  this  change  is  one  of  the  most  practical 
and  most  important  means  of  combating  the 
great  majority  of  the  chronic  diseases  with 
which  the  physician  has  to  deal.  A  method 
which  has  been  thoroughly  tested  may  be 
briefly  described  as  follows; 

To  change  the  intestinal  flora,  three  things 
are  essential: 

1.  To  so  regulate  the  diet  that  there  will 
be  left  in  the  colon  no  putrescible  food  resi- 
dues. This  is  accomplished  by  eliminating 
from  the  diet  for  a  few  days  all  animal  pro- 
teins, that  is,  meat,  milk,  and  eggs,  and  also 
vegetable  foods  rich  in  protein,  such  as  beans, 
peas,  and  cereals.  Fats  are  also  excluded  be- 
cause they  delay  the  movement  of  the  food 
through  the  stomach  and  small  intestine  and 
encourage  putrefaction  in  the  colon.  A  diet 
consisting  wholly  of  fruits  or  fruits  and  fresh 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  153 

green  vegetables  such  as  lettuce  or  cabbage, 
celery,  and  other  green  things  is  best.  Malt 
sugar  or  milk  sugar  may  be  used  freely. 

2.  The  activity  of  the  bowels  must  be  in- 
creased to  such  a  degree  that  the  food  residues 
will  not  be  retained  in  the  colon  long  enough 
to  undergo  putrefaction.  This  requires  three 
or  four  efficient  bowel  movements  daily,  or  at 
least  one  bowel  movement  after  each  meal.  By 
the  free  use  of  bran  or  agar-agar  and  paraffin 
oil  in  some  form,  spontaneous  movements  may 
usually  be  secured.  When  necessary,  the 
colon  may  be  emptied  by  a  thorough  enema 
once  or  twice  a  day,  using  water  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  80°  F.  or  warm  water  (100°  F.),  fol- 
lowed by  cool  water. 

In  children  and  in  some  persons  who  enjoy 
superb  health,  the  bowels  move  four  times 
daily;  before  breakfast,  after  breakfast,  after 
dinner,  and  at  bedtime. 

The  idea  entertained  by  many  persons  that 
frequent  bowel  movement  is  weakening,  is 
wholly  erroneous.  The  bowels  move  often  in 
cases  of  diarrhoea  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
away  poisons  produced  in  the  intestine  by  in- 
vading germs.  The  weakness  felt  is  not  due 
to  the  bowel  movements  but  to  the  poisons. 


154      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

some  portion  of  which  is  absorbed  in  spite  of 
Nature's  vigorous  efforts  to  eliminate  them. 

3.  A  third  factor  of  importance,  though 
less  essential  than  the  preceding,  is  the  intro- 
duction of  protective  organisms,  the  lactic  acid 
forming  ferments  or  so-called  buttermilk 
germs.  There  are  several  of  these,  and  they 
are  more  effective  in  combination  than  alone. 
These  ferments  are  best  used  at  first  in  whey 
cultures  rather  than  in  milk,  and  large 
amounts  of  milk  sugar  (6-8  ounces  daily) 
should  be  used  with  them.  In  extreme  cases 
and  when  rapid  results  are  desired,  the  cul- 
tures should  be  used  by  enema,  as  well  as  by 
mouth,  thus  planting  the  protective  germs 
where  they  are  most  needed  and  may  render 
most  effective  service. 

"The  Fruit  Regimen" 

The  combination  of  these  methods  consti- 
tutes the  "Fruit  Regimen,"  a  few  days  of 
which  rarely  fails  to  clear  the  tongue,  sweeten 
the  breath,  and  dissipate  the  foul  odor  of  the 
stools,  which  become  odorless  or  acquire  a 
slight  sour  odor. 

When  the  tongue  has  been  cleared,  the 
"Milk  Regimen"  may  be  utilized  with  great 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  155 

advantage  as  a  means  of  fixing  in  the  intestine 
the  protective  germs  which  the  "Fruit  Regi- 
men" has  introduced. 

The  "Milk  Regimen"  is  much  the  same  as 
the  "Fruit  Regimen"  except  that  milk  is  sub- 
stituted for  fruit  and  is  given  every  half  hour 
and  to  the  extent  of  five  or  six  quarts  daily. 
On  this  regimen,  the  bowels  should  move  very 
freely,  and  the  stools  should  be  much  like  those 
of  an  infant. 

After  two  or  three  weeks  of  the  "Milk  Regi- 
men," the  patient  is  prepared  for  the  Anti- 
toxic Diet  or  Regimen. 

Antitoxic  Diet 

This  diet  consists  chiefly  of  fruits,  cereals, 
and  fresh  vegetables,  and  should  include  a 
considerable  amount  of  uncooked  vegetables, 
such  as  lettuce,  cucumbers  and  cabbage.  The 
experiments  at  the  Pasteur  Institute  have 
shown  that  potatoes  and  dates  are  partic- 
ularly valuable  as  antitoxic  foods,  probably  be- 
cause the  carbohydrates  which  they  contain — 
starch  in  the  potato,  and  sugar  in  the  date — 
are  not  fully  absorbed  in  the  small  intestine 
and  reach  the  colon  in  larger  amount  than  do 
the  carbohydrates  of  most  other  foods.     Car- 


156      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

rots  also  were  shown  by  Metchnikoff's  experi- 
ments to  be  a  valuable  antitoxic  food.  Another 
specially  valuable  food,  of  which  the  writer  has 
made  much  use  with  excellent  success  is  oat- 
meal prepared  by  short  cooking.  The  steel-cut 
oats  or  old-fashioned  Scotch  oats  are  better  for 
the  purpose  than  rolled  oats.  Instead  of  cook- 
ing a  long  time  so  as  to  insure  the  complete 
conversion  of  all  the  starch,  the  oatmeal 
should  be  stirred  into  boiling  water  and  cooked 
for  five  minutes,  then  set  aside  for  five 
minutes  more,  and  then  served.  Oats  prepared 
in  this  way  constitute  the  brose  of  the 
Scotch  Highlanders,  and  is  most  palatable. 
Nevertheless,  a  considerable  portion  is  im- 
perfectly cooked  and  hence  is  not  readily 
acted  upon  by  the  saliva  and  intestinal  juices, 
and  thus  finds  its  way  into  the  colon, 
where  it  may  feed  the  fermentation  germs 
and  by  its  presence  prevent  the  putrefaction 
germs  from  making  poisons  by  the  decompo- 
sition of  protein.  This  protective  action  may 
be  increased  by  the  addition  of  wheat  bran  to 
the  oatmeal  in  the  proportion  of  one  part  to 
three  by  volume  measure.  The  bran  will 
hasten  the  passage  of  the  oatmeal  through 
the  intestinal  canal  and  will  thus  increase  the 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  157 

amount  of  carbohydrate  which  reaches  the 
colon. 

An  excellent  breakfast  food  consists  of 
equal  parts  by  measure  of  corn  meal,  steel-cut 
oats  and  sterilized  bran,  cooked  six  to  ten 
minutes. 

The  free  use  of  such  saccharine  fruits  as 
prunes,  figs,  and  raisins  is  also  a  valuable 
means  of  introducing  carbohydrates  in  the 
most  available  form,  since  the  germs  which 
live  in  the  colon  thrive  better  on  a  diet  of 
sugar  than  any  other  form  of  carbohydrates. 
Purple  figs  soaked  in  cold  water  for  twenty- 
four  hours  are  a  very  palatable  laxative  food. 

The  Colon  Not  Intended  to  be  a 
Sewee 

Nature  never  intended  that  the  interior  of 
the  human  intestine  should  be  degraded  to 
the  condition  of  a  privy  vault  or  an  obstructed 
sewer,  flooding  the  blood  with  brain-and- 
nerve-paralyzing  and  disease-breeding  poi- 
sons. This  is  clearly  evident,  not  only  by  the 
observations  of  Levin  at  Spitzbergen,  above 
referred  to,  but  also  by  the  discovery  in  South 
America  of  a  parrot  which  lives  wholly  upon 
bananas,   and  the  fecal  discharges  of  which 


158      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

have  the  fragrance  of  bananas  and  are  in- 
offensive as  bananas  themselves.  What  nat- 
ural reason  can  be  shown  that  food  that  enters 
the  body  clean,  sweet  and  sterile  should  leave 
the  body  in  a  state  horribly  loathsome  with 
corruption? 

Clean  blood  is  a  first  essential  for  health  of 
body  and  mind.  Clean  blood  is  impossible 
without  a  clean  colon.  Constipation  is  a  fun- 
damental and  almost  universal  evil  which  is 
the  root  of  more  human  ills  and  perhaps  more 
human  misery,  moral  and  mental  as  well  as 
physical  than  any  other  cause.  Fortunately  it 
is  not  an  incurable  condition.  The  average 
civilized  colon  is  badly  crippled,  but  it  may  be 
greatly  helped.  An  intelligent  application  of 
up-to-date  knowledge  of  colon  conditions  may 
attain  success  in  the  most  discouraging  cases. 

Every  case  of  constipation  is  curable,  but 
not  by  means  of  any  panacea.  Each  case 
must  be  studied  and  individual  conditions 
must  be  dealt  with  in  an  intelligent  and 
rational  manner. 

The  successful  treatment  of  chronic  con- 
stipation requires  a  careful  study  of  each  in- 
dividual case  in  the  light  of  modern  knowl- 
edge of  the  physiology  of  the  colon  and  in  ob- 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  159 

stinate  cases  the  whole  alimentary  canal  must 
be  inspected  by  means  of  the  X-ray  with  the 
opaque  meal  and  enema. 

The  intestinal  flora  must  be  changed.  This 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  conquer  constipa- 
tion. Putrefactive  poisons  paralyze  the  colon, 
while  the  harmless  acids  of  fermentation  are 
the  normal  stimulants  of  the  intestine,  hence 
the  necessity  for  exchanging  the  wild  bacteria 
for  the  protective  germs  which  nature  pro- 
vides as  a  bulwark  against  disease. 

The  details  of  methods  of  treatment,  diet, 
how  to  change  the  intestinal  flora,  and  other 
matters  that  pertain  to  the  practical  manage- 
ment of  the  colon  is  given  in  other  works  by 
the  author,  especially  "Colon  Hygiene,"  and 
'  'Autointoxication. ' ' 

By  the  use  of  these  methods,  many  per- 
sons thought  to  be  proper  subjects  for  surgical 
treatment  may  be  wholly  relieved  and  re- 
stored to  comfort  and  usefulness.  The  suffer- 
ing of  subjects  of  chronic  autointoxication  is 
often  so  great  that  they  are  quite  willing  to 
submit  to  any  treatment,  medical  or  surgical, 
no  matter  how  drastic,  provided  only  that  a 
fair  prospect  of  relief  is  held  out  to  them. 

With  high  hopes    of   relief   from   chronic 


160      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

miseries,  hundreds  of  persons  have  undergone 
operations  for  removal  of  the  appendix, 
"shortcircuiting,"  or  even  removal  of  the  colon, 
or  some  other  radical  procedure,  and  have  then 
found  themselves  subject  to  the  same  miseries 
as  before,  often  with  aggravated  intensity. 

The  truth  is  that  the  "kinks,"  and  most 
other  morbid  conditions  which  are  thought  to 
require  surgical  interference,  are  results  rather 
than  causes  of  the  fundamental  mischiefs, 
which  must  be  corrected  before  any  permanent 
benefit  will  be  secured. 

The  notion  that  the  appendix  is  a  useless 
"relic"  and  the  colon  a  handicap  and  a  menace 
which  should  have  been  long  ago  left  behind  in 
the  march  of  evolution,  is  not  in  harmony  with 
sound  scientific  principles.  Nature  is  wise. 
Because  the  purpose  of  an  organ  is  not  under- 
stood, we  should  not  feel  at  liberty  to  denounce 
it  as  cumbersome  and  dangerous.  It  is  but  a 
few  years  since  the  spleen  was  looked  upon 
as  a  superfluous  organ,  if  not  a  burden  to  the 
bodily  economy.  Now,  we  know  that  the  func- 
tions of  the  spleen  are  of  highest  importance 
to  the  body.  While  it  is  possible  for  a  person 
to  live  without  it,  at  least  for  several  years,  its 
activity  is  known  to  be  essential  to  the  perfect 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  161 

working  of  the  bodily  machinery,  especially  of 
the  defensive  mechanisms. 

The  thyroid  gland  was  for  ages  regarded 
as  of  no  use  to  an  adult,  though  regarded  of 
use  in  the  early  periods  of  development  be- 
fore birth  and  during  the  first  months  of  in- 
fancy. Now,  we  know  that  this  gland  has 
most  important  duties  to  perform  in  connec- 
tion with  nutrition,  especially  in  the  protec- 
tion of  the  body  against  the  poisons  produced 
in  the  colon  by  the  putrefaction  of  protein. 
Dogs  whose  thyroids  have  been  removed  die 
when  fed  on  meat,  but  thrive  on  a  diet  from 
which  meat  is  excluded,  such  as  bread  and 
milk. 

A  minute  body  in  the  brain,  not  larger 
than  a  pea,  once  a  mere  anatomical  curiosity, 
thought  by  the  philosopher,  Descartes,  to  be 
the  seat  of  the  soul,  is  now  known  to  play  a 
very  important  part  in  regulating  growth. 
Disease  of  this  minute  structure  may  be  ac- 
companied by  loss  of  bodily  symmetry.  The 
hands  and  feet  become  gigantic  in  size,  all  out 
of  proportion  to  the  rest  of  the  body.  The 
nose  or  the  lower  jaw  may  become  immensely 
too  large  for  the  rest  of  the  face. 

The  appendix  vermiformis,  long  regarded 


162      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

as  a  vestige  and  a  trouble  maker,  is  now  known 
to  be  a  leading  factor  in  the  highly  important 
lubricating  system  of  the  colon.  It  is  a  great 
mucous  follicle  and  pours  out  its  lubricating 
mucus  at  just  the  point  where  it  is  most 
needed.  Prof.  MacEwen,  of  Edinboro,  an 
eminent  Scotch  surgeon,  and  also  the  late 
Prof.  Andrews,  a  distinguished  Chicago  sur- 
geon, called  attention  to  this  useful  function 
of  the  appendix  many  years  ago.  A  person 
who  has  had  his  appendix  removed,  has  lost  a 
valuable  part  of  his  lubricating  mechanism. 

Such  persons  generally  find  it  necessary  to 
make  constant  use  of  paraffin  oil  to  replace  the 
function  of  the  lost  organ. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  the  appendices  which  are  removed  have 
no  direct  connection  with  the  complaints  for 
relief  from  which  the  operation  is  performed. 
After  the  operation,  the  patient  suffers  the 
same  as  before. 

The  same  things  may  be  said  of  the  colon. 
It  is  not  a  useless  organ.  Its  purpose  is  to 
secure  regular  and  rhythmical  discharge  of 
the  food  residues  and  body  wastes  instead  of  a 
constant  discharge  as  in  some  birds  and  fishes, 
in  which  the  colon  is  so  short  as  to  be  of  little 


THE  INTESTINAL  FLORA  163 

use  as  a  reservoir.  When  the  colon  is  removed, 
nature  proceeds  to  make  a  new  reservoir  by 
dilating  the  lower  end  of  the  ileum  until  it 
becomes  as  large  as  the  normal  colon. 

It  has  become  evident  that  the  fault  with 
the  modern  colon  is  not  that  it  is  superfluous, 
but  that  it  has  been  systematically  abused 
by  requiring  it  to  deal  with  material  which 
it  was  never  intended  to  handle,  as  pointed 
out  by  the  eminent  Professor  Keith  of  Lon- 
don. Nature  intended  the  colon  of  man, 
as  those  of  other  primates,  the  orang  and  the 
chimpanzee,  to  be  used  as  a  reservoir  for  hold- 
ing for  a  few  hours  the  residues  of  fruits  and 
roots  and  tender  shoots,  the  indigestible  seeds, 
skins,  and  fibres  of  vegetable  food  stuffs,  ma- 
terial incapable  of  undergoing  putrefaction  or 
giving  rise  to  poisonous  products  of  any  sort. 
But  by  becoming  a  meat  eater  man  has  com- 
pelled his  colon  to  deal  with  the  putrescent 
fragments  of  undigested  flesh,  highly  offensive 
material  which  the  short  colons  of  carnivorous 
animals  dismiss  quickly  and  handle  with  little 
injury,  but  which  stored  up  in  the  capacious 
human  colon  for  many  hours,  even  several 
days,  become  a  seething  mass  of  corruption,  a 
veritable  Pandora's  box  of  disease. 


164      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

And  so  the  conclusion  to  which  sound  rea- 
son and  experience  lead  us  is  that  the  colon 
does  not  need  to  be  eliminated  by  evolution  or 
removed  by  surgery  (except  when  hopelessly 
diseased),  but  that  it  needs  to  be  reformed  by 
proper  training  and  return  to  a  natural 
dietary.  That  these  measures  are  successful 
has  been  demonstrated  by  the  experience  of 
the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  where  they  have 
been  systematically  employed  in  the  treatment 
of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  invalids 
within  the  last  forty  years,  most  of  whom  were 
suffering  from  chronic  constipation  and  its 
consequences. 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD 
STAPLE 

In  these  days  when  the  question  of  food- 
stuffs is  daily  becoming  more  urgent  and  ab- 
sorbing it  is  natural  that  all  available  sources 
of  supplies  to  meet  one  of  the  most  urgent  of 
all  our  human  needs  should  be  made  the  sub- 
ject of  careful  investigation.  The  exigencies 
of  the  great  European  war  have  compelled  not 
only  Germany  but  others  of  the  belligerent  na- 
tions to  study  nutritive  values  and  the  econom- 
ics of  food  more  critically  than  ever  before. 
Every  possible  source  of  food  supply  is  being 
drawn  upon  to  the  fullest  extent  possible  by 
the  nations  of  Central  Europe.  Efforts  have 
been  made  to  extract  nutrient  material  from 
such  unpromising  sources  as  straw  and  saw- 
dust, naturally  with  no  encouraging  measure 
of  success. 

The  writer  has  followed  these  researches 
and  discussions  with  great  interest.  Numer- 
ous important  facts  in  relation  to  human  nu- 
trition which  have  been  long  known  to  scien- 
tists but  of  which  the  common  people  have 
been  ignorant  have  been  brought  to  the  atten- 


166      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

tion  of  the  hungry  masses  and  have  received 
practical  application  in  the  masterly  efforts 
which  have  been  made  for  their  relief.  It  is 
probable  that  the  problem  of  human  nutrition 
is  at  the  present  time  being  solved  in  a  more 
scientific  and  practical  way  by  the  German 
people  than  the  world  has  ever  seen  done  be- 
fore. 

In  all  this  discussion,  however,  one  of  the 
first  and  most  striking  facts  upon  which  pub- 
lic attention  was  focused  after  the  beginning 
of  the  great  conflict  was  the  necessity  for  lim- 
iting the  supply  of  flesh  foods.  The  reason  for 
this  is  obvious.  All  the  densely  populated  na- 
tions of  Europe  depend  chiefly  upon  outside 
sources  for  their  meat  supplies.  This  must  be 
true  of  any  densely  populated  country  for  the 
reason  that  an  acre  of  land  that  is  devoted  to 
wheat,  for  example,  will  produce  nearly  ten 
times  as  much  protein,  one  of  the  most  essen- 
tial of  all  the  food  principles,  as  the  same  area 
of  land  devoted  to  pasturage  for  beef  cattle 
and,  as  will  be  shown  later  in  this  paper,  the 
same  land  devoted  to  nuts  may  produce  an 
even  greater  amount  of  food  protein  together 
with  other  essential  food  principles.  Notwith- 
standing this  fact,  the  writer  has  seen  no  men- 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        167 

tion  made  of  nuts  in  the  discussions  of  food 
supplies  which  have  grown  out  of  the  Euro- 
pean war.  The  explanation  doubtless  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  nuts  have  heretofore  cut 
so  small  a  figure  in  national  food  supplies  that, 
under  the  present  emergency  conditions,  they 
are  naturally  overlooked  entirely. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  nuts  have  been  used 
as  a  luxury  rather  than  as  a  staple  article  of 
food ;  but  as  the  public  become  better  informed 
respecting  the  high  food  value  of  nuts  and 
especially  in  view  of  the  steadily  rising  cost  of 
flesh  meats,  the  nut  is  certain  to  gain  higher 
appreciation,  and  the  wi-iter  has  no  doubt  that 
sometime  in  the  future  nuts  will  become  a  lead- 
ing constituent  of  the  national  bill  of  fare  and 
in  so  doing,  will  displace  certain  foodstuffs 
which  today  are  held  in  high  esteem  but  which 
in  the  broader  light  of  the  next  century  will 
be  regarded  as  objectionable  and  inferior 
foods  and  will  give  place  to  the  products  of 
the  various  varieties  of  nut  trees  which  will 
then  be  recognized  as  the  choicest  of  all  foods. 

Botanically,  a  nut  is  a  fruit ;  but  nuts  differ 
so  widely  both  in  composition  and  appearance 
from  the  foods  commonly  called  fruits  that 
they  are  properly  classed  by  themselves. 


168      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

In  nutritive  value  the  nut  far  exceeds  all 
other  food  substances;  for  example,  the  aver- 
age number  of  food  units  per  pound  furnished 
by  half  a  dozen  of  the  more  common  varieties 
of  nuts  is  3231  calories  while  the  average  of  the 
same  number  of  varieties  of  cereals  is  1654 
calories,  half  the  value  of  nuts.  The  average 
food  value  of  the  best  vegetables  is  300  calories 
per  pound  and  of  the  best  fresh  fruits  grown 
in  this  country  is  278  calories.  The  average 
value  of  the  six  principal  flesh  foods  is  810 
calories  per  pound  or  one-fourth  that  of  nuts. 

The  superior  nutritive  value  of  nuts  is 
clearly  shown  by  the  following  tables  based 
upon  the  analyses  of  Atwater  and  others: 


Composition  and  Fuel  Value  of  the  Edible  Portion  of  Nats. 

Protein     Fats  Carbohy-  Ash  Food  value 
drates                 per  pound 

per  ct.  per  ct.  per  ct.  per  ct.      Calories 

Almonds    21.0  54.9  17.3  2.0  3,030 

Brazil    nuts    17.0  66.8  7.0  3.9  3,329 

Filberts    15.6  65.3  13.0  2.4  3,432 

Hickory     nuts     15.4  67.4  11.4  2.1  3,495 

Pecan   nuts    11.0  71.2  13.3  1.5  3,633 

English    walnuts    ...16.7  64.4  14.8  1.3  3,305 

Chestnuts,    fresh    ...    6.2  5.4  42.1  1.3  1,125 

Chestnuts,    dried    ...10.7  7.0  74.2  2.2  1,875 

Acorns      8.1  37.4  48.0  2.4  2,718 

Beechnuts     21.9  57.4  13.2  3.5  3,263 

Butternuts    27.9  61.2  3.4  3.0  3,371 

Black  walnuts 27.6  56.3  11.7  1.9  3,105 

Cocoanuts    5.7  50.6  27.9  1.7  2,986 

Cocoanuts  shredded   .   6.3  57.3  31.6  1.3  3,125 

Pistachios,    kernels.  .22.6  54.5  15.6  3.1  3,010 

Pine  nuts  or  pinons  14.6  61.9  17.3  2.8  3,364 

Peanuts,    raw    25.8  38.6  24.4  2.0  2,560 

Peanuts,    roasted    ...30.5  49.2  16.2  2.5  3.177 

Utchl   nutg    2.9  .2  77.5  1.5  1,458 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        169 

With  the  exception  of  smoked  bacon,  there 
is  no  flesh  food  which  even  approaches  the  nut 
in  nutritive  value,  and  bacon  owes  its  high 
value  to  the  fact  that  it  consists  almost  exclu- 
sively of  fat. 

That  the  nut  is  appreciated  as  a  dainty  is 
attested  by  the  frequency  with  which  it  ap- 
pears as  a  dessert  and  the  extensive  use  of  vari- 
ous nuts  as  confections.  That  nuts  do  not 
hold  a  more  prominent  place  in  the  national 
bill  of  fare  is  due  chiefly  to  two  causes;  first, 
the  popular  idea  that  nuts  are  highly  indiges- 
tible, and  second,  their  comparatively  high 
price. 

The  notion  that  nuts  are  diflicult  of  diges- 
tion has  really  no  foundation  in  fact.  The  idea 
is  probably  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  cus- 
tom of  eating  nuts  at  the  close  of  a  meal  when 
an  abundance,  more  likely  a  super-abundance, 
of  highly  nutritious  foods  has  already  been 
eaten  and  the  equally  injurious  custom  of  eat- 
ing nuts  between  meals.  Neglect  of  thorough 
mastication  must  also  be  mentioned  as  a  com- 
mon cause  of  indigestion  following  the  use  of 
nuts.  Nuts  are  generally  eaten  dry  and  have 
a  firm  hard  flesh  which  requires  thorough  use 
of  the  organs  of  mastication  to  prepare  them 


170      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

for  the  action  of  the  several  digestive  juices. 
Experiments  made  in  Germany  showed  that 
nuts  are  not  digested  at  all  but  pass  through 
the  alimentary  canal  like  foreign  bodies  un- 
less reduced  to  a  smooth  paste  in  the  mouth. 
Particles  of  nuts  the  size  of  small  seeds  wholly 
escaped  digestion. 

The  Origin  of  Peanut  Butter 

Having  been  for  more  than  fifty  years 
actively  interested  in  promoting  the  use  of  nuts 
as  a  staple  food,  I  have  given  considerable 
thought  and  study  to  their  dietetic  value  and 
have  made  many  experiments.  About  twenty- 
five  years  ago  it  occurred  to  me  that  one  of  the 
above  objections  to  the  extensive  dietetic  use 
of  nuts  might  be  overcome  by  mechanical  pre- 
paration of  the  nut  before  serving  so  as  to  re- 
duce it  to  a  smooth  paste  and  thus  insure  the 
preparation  for  digestion  which  the  average 
eater  is  prone  to  neglect.  The  result  was  a 
product  which  I  called  peanut  butter.  I  was 
much  surprised  at  the  readiness  with  which 
the  product  sprang  into  public  favor.  Several 
years  ago  I  was  informed  by  a  wholesale  gro- 
cer of  Chicago  that  the  firm's  sales  of  peanut 
butter  amounted  on  an  average  to  a  carload  a 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        171 

week.  I  think  it  is  safe  to  estimate  that  not 
less  than  one  thousand  carloads  of  this  product 
are  annually  consumed  in  this  country.  The 
increased  demand  for  peanuts  for  making  pea- 
nut butter  led  to  the  development  of  "corners" 
in  the  peanut  market  and  doubled  the  price 
and  the  annual  production. 

I  am  citing  my  experience  with  the  peanut 
not  for  the  purpose  of  recommending  this 
product,  for  I  am  obliged  to  confess  that  I  was 
soon  compelled  to  abandon  the  use  of  peanut 
butter  prepared  from  roasted  nuts,  for  the 
reason  that  the  process  of  roasting  renders  the 
nut  indigestible  to  such  a  degree  that  it  was 
not  adapted  to  the  use  of  invalids,  but  simply 
as  an  illustration  of  the  readiness  with  which 
the  public  accepts  a  new  dietetic  idea  when  it 
happens  to  strike  the  popular  fancy. 

Delicious  nut  butters  may  be  prepared 
from  true  nuts  such  as  the  almond,  filbert,  and 
pine  nut,  by  blanching  and  crushing,  without 
roasting.    Peanuts  require  steam  roasting. 

Ways  must  be  found  to  render  the  use  of 
nuts  practical  by  adapting  them  to  our  culin- 
ary and  dietetic  customs  and  to  overcome  the 
popular  objection  to  their  use  by  a  widespread 
and  efficient  campaign  of  education. 


172      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Food  Economy 

It  has  long  been  predicted  by  economists 
that  the  time  would  come  when  a  densely  pop- 
ulated world  would  be  compelled  to  derive  its 
sustenance  directly  from  the  soil.  The  present 
high  prices  of  meat  were  anticipated  more 
than  twenty  years  ago  by  the  officials  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture. 
The  increase  of  our  human  population  and  the 
decrease  of  our  animal  population  have  both 
progressed  more  rapidly  than  was  anticipated, 
and  the  artificial  conditions  imposed  by  the 
world  war  have  still  further  increased  the  price 
of  meat  and  made  meatless  days  a  necessity. 
Thus  the  question,  Is  meat  essential  to  com- 
plete human  nutrition?  has  become  most  per- 
tinent. 

A  fundamental  error  is  embodied  in  the 
popular  faith  in  the  high  protein  ration.  The 
physiologists  are  at  least  partly  at  fault.  Lie- 
big's  dictum,  which  made  protein  the  essential 
food  factor  in  supporting  work,  has  misled  the 
whole  civilized  world  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury. The  dietaries  of  institutions,  armies, 
whole  nations  have  been  based  upon  a  concep- 
tion which  modern  science  has  shown  to  be 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        173 

utterly  false,  and  the  result  has  been  an  eco- 
nomic loss  which  staggers  belief,  and  a  de- 
struction of  human  life  and  efficiency  which 
over-shadows  most  other  malign  influences. 

As  an  abstract  scientific  proposition  this 
question  was  answered  by  the  physiologists 
years  ago  by  laboratory  experiments.  Ac- 
cording to  Magnus  Levy,  one  of  the  world's 
most  eminent  authorities,  "It  is  indeed  true 
that  the  vegetable  albuminous  substances  as 
they  occur  in  nature  are  equal  in  nutritive 
value  to  an  equivalent  protein  of  animal 
origin." 

More  recent  studies,  however,  by  McCol- 
lum  and  others  have  shown  that  the  selection 
of  the  vegetable  foodstuffs  which  shall  com- 
pose the  bill-of-fare  is  not  a  matter  of  indif- 
ference. There  is  a  difference  in  proteins. 
Every  vegetable  produces  proteins  which  are 
peculiar  to  itself.  Animal  proteins  also  differ, 
but  apparently  less  widely  than  do  vegetable 
proteins,  and  many  vegetable  proteins  differ 
very  greatly  in  character  from  those  which 
compose  the  highly  vitalized  parts  of  the  hu- 
man body. 

Fortunately,  vegetable  proteins  do  not  all 
differ  in  the  same  way.    Some  differ  in  one  di- 


174      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

rection,  others  in  the  exact  opposite  direction. 
And  so  by  the  proper  selection  of  vegetable 
foodstuffs  it  is  possible  to  make  a  combina- 
tion which  will  supply  the  human  body  with 
just  the  sort  of  material  which  it  requires 
for  building  purposes  and  for  repairs. 

Taking  the  protein  of  the  human  body 
for  a  standard,  it  is  found  that  the  proteins 
which  are  found  in  cereals,  green  and  root  veg- 
etables, legumes  and  most  other  vegetable 
products  are  incomplete.  They  are  lacking  in 
certain  elements  which  are  absolutely  essential 
to  the  building  of  healthy  human  blood  and 
tissues. 

Careful  chemical  analysis,  however,  has 
shown  in  recent  years  that  the  proteins  of  nuts, 
or  at  least  of  some  of  them,  are  complete  pro- 
teins. Nuts,  in  fact,  furnish  proteins  of  such 
fine  quality  that  they  are  capable  of  comple- 
menting other  foodstuffs.  Their  proteins 
supply  the  elements  necessary  to  render  com- 
plete the  proteins  of  cereals  and  other  vege- 
table foods.  This  discovery  is  one  of  the  high- 
est importance  since  it  opens  a  door  of  escape 
for  the  race  from  the  threatened  extinction  by 
starvation  at  some  future  period,  perhaps  not 
so  very  remote. 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        175 

Advantages  of  a  Nut  Diet 

This  fact  places  the  nut  in  an  exceedingly- 
important  position  as  a  foodstuff.  In  face  of 
vanishing  meat  supplies  it  is  most  comforting 
to  know  that  meats  of  all  sorts  may  be  safely 
replaced  by  nuts  not  only  without  loss,  but 
with  a  decided  gain.  Nuts  have  several  advan- 
tages over  flesh  foods  which  are  well  worth 
considering. 

1.  Nuts  are  free  from  waste  products, 
uric  acid,  urea,  carnine,  and  other  tissue 
wastes. 

2.  Nuts  are  aseptic,  free  from  putrefac- 
tive bacteria,  and  do  not  readily  undergo  de- 
cay either  in  the  body  or  outside  of  it.  Meats, 
on  the  other  hand,  are  practically  always  in  an 
advanced  stage  of  putrefaction,  as  found  in  the 
meat  markets.  Ordinary  meats  contain  from 
three  million  to  ten  times  that  number  of  bac- 
teria per  ounce,  and  such  meats  as  Hamburg- 
er steak  often  contain  more  than  a  billion  put- 
refactive organisms  to  the  ounce.  Nuts  are 
clean  and  sweet. 

3.  Nuts  are  free  from  trichinae,  tape- 
worm, and  other  parasites,  as  well  as  other  in- 
fections due  to  specific  disease.     Nuts  are  in 


176      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

good  health  when  gathered  and  remain  so  un- 
til eaten.  The  contrast  between  the  delectable 
product  of  the  beautiful  walnut,  chestnut  or 
pecan  tree  and  the  abbatoir  recalls  the  story  of 
the  Tennessee  school  teacher  who  was  told 
when  she  made  inquiry  about  a  certain  should- 
er of  pork  which  had  been  promised  in  part 
payment  for  services  but  had  not  arrived, 
"Dad  didn't  kill  the  pig;"  "and  why  not,"  said 
the  teacher.  "Because,"  replied  the  observing 
youngster,  "He  got  wedl."  Nearly  all  the 
cows  slaughtered  are  tuberculous.  They  are 
killed  to  be  eaten  because  too  sick  to  longer 
serve  as  community  wet  nurses. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  fat  of 
nuts  exists  in  a  finely  divided  state  and  that  in 
the  chewing  of  nuts  a  fine  emulsion  is  produced 
so  that  nuts  enter  the  stomach  in  a  form  best 
adapted  for  prompt  digestion. 

Another  question  which  will  naturally 
arise  is  this :  if  nuts  are  to  be  granted  the  place 
of  a  staple  in  our  list  of  food  supplies,  will  it 
be  safe  to  accept  them  as  a  substitute  for  flesh 
foods  ? 

Beefsteak  with  many  people  has  become  a 
veritable  fetish,  but  the  experiments  of  Chit- 
tenden and  others  have  demonstrated  that  the 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        177 

amount  of  protein  needed  by  the  body  daily  is 
so  small  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  arrange 
a  bill  of  fare  to  include  flesh  foods  without 
making  the  protein  intake  excessive.  This  is 
because  the  ordinary  foodstuffs  other  than 
meat  contain  a  sufficient  amount  of  protein  to 
meet  the  needs  of  the  body.  Nuts  present 
their  protein  in  combination  with  so  large  a 
proportion  of  easily  digestible  fat  that  there  is 
comparatively  little  danger  of  getting  an  ex- 
cess. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  protein 
of  nuts  is  superior  in  quality  to  that  of  ordi- 
nary vegetables  or  meats.  The  careful  an- 
alyses made  in  recent  years  have  shown  that 
the  protein  of  nuts,  at  least  of  a  number  of 
them,  contain  all  the  elements  needed  for  build- 
ing up  complete  body  proteins ;  in  other  words, 
nuts  furnish  perfect  proteins,  which  are  not 
supplied  so  abundantly  by  any  other  vegetable 
product. 

A  False  Economy 

From  an  economic  standpoint,  the  rearing 
of  animals  for  food  is  a  monstrous  extrava- 
gance. According  to  Professor  Henry,  dean 
of  the  Agricultural  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin,  and  author  of  an  author- 


178      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

itative  work  on  foods  and  feeding,  one  hun- 
dred pounds  of  food  fed  to  a  steer  produce  less 
than  three  pounds  of  food  in  the  form  of  flesh. 
In  other  words,  we  must  feed  the  steer  thirty- 
three  pounds  of  corn  in  order  to  get  back  one 
pound  of  food  in  the  form  of  steak.  Such  an 
extravagant  waste  can  be  tolerated  only  so 
long  as  it  is  possible  to  produce  a  large  excess 
of  foodstuffs.  It  is  stated,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
that  at  the  present  time  scarcely  more  than  ten 
per  cent,  of  the  corn  raised  in  the  United 
States  is  directly  consumed  by  human  beings. 
A  large  part  of  it  is  wasted  in  feeding  to  ani- 
mals. This  economic  loss  has  been  long  known 
to  practical  men  but  it  has  been  regarded  as 
unavoidable  since  meat  has  been  supposed  to 
be  absolutely  essential  as  an  article  of  food; 
but  the  experience  of  Germany  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  war,  as  well  as  of  Ja- 
pan, China,  and  India  for  many  centuries,  has 
fully  demonstrated  the  possibility  of  eliminat- 
ing meat  from  the  national  bill  of  fare. 

The  use  of  nuts  as  a  staple  article  of  food 
is  not  an  experiment.  All  the  higher  apes, 
man's  nearest  relatives  in  the  animal  world, 
thrive  on  nuts.  Many  savage  tribes  live  very 
largely  on  nuts.    The  Indians  of  the  foothills 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        179 

of  California  gather  every  fall  large  quan- 
tities of  nuts  which  they  store  for  winter  use. 
The  early  settlers  of  California  reported 
that  many  tribes  of  Indians  in  that  part 
of  the  United  States  lived  almost  wholly  upon 
acorns.  Before  the  great  oak  forests  of  this 
country  were  cut  down,  many  millions  of 
hogs  were  fattened  on  mast,  and  the  price  of 
pork  depended  more  upon  the  acorn  crop  than 
on  the  corn  crop.  The  peasantry  of  southern 
France  and  northern  Italy  during  half  the 
year  make  two  meals  a  day  on  chestnuts. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  milk  and  eggs  supply 
essentially  the  same  protein  that  is  furnished 
by  meat,  and  milk  protein  in  some  respects  su- 
perior to  that  of  meat;  but  milk  is  rapidly 
rising  in  price  and  will  doubtless  go  still  high- 
er for  the  reason  that  for  every  pound  of  food 
in  the  form  of  milk  it  is  necessary  to  feed  a 
cow  more  than  five  times  the  amount  of  food 
obtained;  and  for  every  pound  of  food  in  the 
form  of  eggs  we  must  throw  away  nearly 
twenty  pounds  of  good  food.  So  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  the  time  may  not  be  far 
distant  when  the  people  of  this  country,  like 
those  of  some  other  countries,  and  like  our 
primitive  ancestors  who  lived  wholly  upon  the 


180      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

products  of  the  forests,  and  our  modern  bio- 
logical relatives,  the  orang-utan,  the  chimpan- 
zee, and  the  gorilla,  must  depend  chiefly  upon 
the  products  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  for 
their  sustenance  with  the  addition  of  eggs  and 
milk. 

It  is  important  then  to  know  that,  if  such 
a  time  comes,  it  would  be  possible  so  to  ar- 
range the  bill  of  fare  that  the  race  may  lose 
nothing  of  vigor  or  energy  because  of  the  re- 
striction in  diet.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is 
good  reason  to  believe  that  if  man  had  never 
acquired  his  present  omnivorous  habits  and 
had  adhered  to  his  original  vegetable  regimen, 
he  might  have  escaped  a  very  large  proportion 
of  the  multitudinous  ills  which  have  greatly 
impaired  his  efficiency  and  are  even  threaten- 
ing extinction  of  the  race. 

The  high  price  of  meat  of  which  so  much 
complaint  has  been  made  in  recent  years  is  not 
likely  to  recede.  The  high  price  is  not  due  to 
manipulations  of  the  market,  but  to  natural 
causes  the  chief  of  which  is  the  limitation  of 
pasturage  and  is  the  consequence  of  a  decrease 
in  the  number  of  livestock.  As  the  country  be- 
comes more  and  more  densely  settled,  the  diffi- 
culty of  supplying  the  demand  for  meat  will 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        181 

increase,  and  in  time  the  necessity  for  utilizing 
every  foot  of  ground  in  the  most  efficient  man- 
ner, will  necessarily  bring  about  a  change  in 
the  dietetic  habits  of  the  people.  Not  one  ex- 
ample can  be  found  in  the  world  of  a  densely 
populated  country  dependent  upon  its  own  re- 
sources in  which  flesh  foods  constitute  any  con- 
siderable part  of  the  national  bill  of  fare.  Since 
Germany  has  been  nearly  shut  off  from  the 
outside  world  by  the  present  war,  the  govern- 
ment has  found  it  necessary  to  restrict  the  con- 
sumption of  meat  to  one-half  pound  per  week 
for  each  adult.  All  other  European  countries 
are  equally  dependent  on  outside  sources  for 
their  meat  supply. 

The  time  will  certainly  come  when  nuts 
and  nut  trees  will  become  a  most  important 
food  resource.  If  a  reform  in  this  direction 
could  be  effected  within  the  next  ten  years,  the 
result  would  be  a  disappearance  to  a  large  ex- 
tent of  the  complaint  of  the  high  cost  of  living. 
James  Hill  said  the  basis  for  complaint  was 
not  the  high  cost  of  living,  but  the  cost  of  high 
living.  I  should  prefer  to  say  that  the  real 
cause  for  complaint  was  wrong  living  rather 
than  high  living,  or  necessarily  high  cost. 
With  right  living  the  cost  will  be  automatical- 


182      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

ly  reduced.  For  example,  suppose  a  person 
were  content  to  choose  the  peanut  as  his  chief 
source  of  protein  and  fat,  the  eHmination  of  the 
butcher's  bill  for  meat  and  the  grocer's  bill  for 
butter  would  at  once  cut  out  two-thirds  of  the 
expense  incurred  for  food. 

A  Personal  Experience 

When  a  student  in  college  more  than  forty 
years  ago,  the  writer  lived  three  months  on  a 
diet  such  as  has  been  above  suggested,  at  an 
average  expense  of  exactly  six  cents  a  day. 
This  was  the  total  amount  expended  for  raw 
foodstuffs.  I  paid  my  landlady  five  times  as 
much  for  preparing  and  serving  the  food,  and 
had  reason  for  believing  that  some  portion  of 
my  supplies  was  utilized  by  others  than  my- 
self. As  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the  experi- 
ment was  not  dangerous,  I  may  add  that  I 
have  pursued  the  same  meatless  dietary  dur- 
ing my  entire  lifetime  since,  as  I  had  done  for 
ten  years  before,  and  in  my  sixty-seventh  am 
still  alive  and  hard  at  work. 

Man  is  naturally  a  frugivorous  animal. 
According  to  Cuvier,  the  renowned  French 
naturalist,  the  natural  diet  of  human  beings, 
like  that  of  those  other  primates,  the  orang- 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE        183 

utan,  the  chimpanzee,  and  the  gorilla,  consists 
of  fruits,  nuts,  tender  shoots  and  grains. 

A  sturdy  Scotch  highlander  told  me  that  his 
diet  consisted  of  brose,  bannocks,  and  potatoes, 
and  that  he  rarely  ever  tasted  meat.  When 
asked  what  he  fed  his  dogs,  he  replied,  "The 
same  as  I  eat  myself,  sir."  The  highbred  fox- 
hounds of  the  southern  states  are  fed  on  corn- 
meal,  oatmeal  and  bread,  and  rarely  taste  flesh 
of  any  sort.  Dogs  thus  fed  are  hardier,  health- 
ier, have  more  endurance,  better  wind,  keener 
scent,  greater  intelligence,  and  are  more  easily 
trained  than  meat  fed  dogs.  A  diet  which  is 
safe  for  carnivorous  animals  must  certainly  be 
safe  for  human  beings  who  belong  to  a  class  of 
animals  all  representatives  of  which,  with  the 
exception  of  man,  are  flesh  abstainers. 

Some  years  ago  I  experimented  with  vari- 
ous sorts  of  carnivorous  animals  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascertaining  whether  nuts  could  be 
made  a  complete  substitute  for  meat.  Among 
the  various  animals  utilized  for  the  experiment 
was  a  young  wolf  from  the  northwest  that  had 
never  eaten  anything  but  fresh  raw  meat.  Af- 
ter giving  the  animal  one  day  to  get  accus- 
tomed to  its  new  surroundings  and  to  acquire 
a  good  appetite  I  gave  him  a  breakfast  of  nuts 


184      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

properly  prepared  and  was  delighted  to  find 
that  he  took  to  the  new  ration  without  the 
slightest  hesitation  and  remained  in  excellent 
health  during  the  several  months  of  the  experi- 
ment. I  succeeded  perfectly  in  substituting 
nuts  for  meat  with  all  the  animals  experi- 
mented upon  including  a  fish  hawk,  with  the 
single  exception  of  an  ancient  bald  headed 
eagle  which  refused  to  be  converted. 

The  First  Mammals  Were  Nut-Eaters 

I  have  long  had  a  suspicion  that  the  so- 
called  carnivorous  animals  were  all  at  some 
remote  time  nut-eaters;  the  so-called  carniv- 
orous teeth  would  be  as  useful  in  tearing  off 
the  husks  of  cocoanuts  and  similar  fruits  as 
for  tearing  and  eating  flesh. 

It  is  gratifying  to  be  assured  by  the  Emi- 
nent Prof.  Matthews,  that  the  first  mammals 
were  nut-eaters  and  vegetarians  and  that  our 
remote  ancestors  were  nut  and  fruit  eaters. 
They  may  have  gobbled  an  insect  now  and 
then  but  their  staple  food  was  fruits  and  nuts 
with  tender  shoots  and  succulent  roots,  which 
is  still  true  of  those  old  fashioned  forest  folks, 
the  primates  of  which  the  orang-utan,  the 
chimpanzee  and  the  gorilla  are  consistent  rep- 


NUTS  A  COMING  FOOD  STAPLE   185 

resentatives,  while  their  near  relatives,  also  a 
primate,  civilized  man,  lias  departed  from  his 
original  bill  of  fare  and  has  exploited  the  bills 
of  fare  of  the  whole  animal  kingdom. 

The  keeper  of  the  famous  big  apes  of  the 
London  Zoo  informed  me  that  they  were  never 
given  meat.  Even  the  small  monkeys,  gen- 
erally regarded  as  insectivorous,  were  confined 
to  a  rigid  vegetarian  fare  and  were  thriving. 

Whole  races  of  men,  comprising  many  mil- 
lions, live  their  entire  lives  without  meats  of 
any  sort,  and  when  fed  a  sufficient  amount  are 
wonderfully  vigorous,  prolific,  enduring  and 
intelligent.  Witness  the  Brahmins  of  India, 
the  Buddhists  of  China  and  Japan  and  the 
teeming  millions  of  Central  Africa. 

The  Woeld^s  Pedestrian  Record  Won  by  a 
Nut  Eater* 

Carl  Mann,  the  winner  of  the  great  walk- 
ing match  between  Berlin  and  Dresden,  per- 
formed his  great  feat  on  a  diet  of  nuts  with 
lettuce  and  fruits. 

Weston,  the  long  distance  champion,  never 
eats  meat  when  on  a  long  walk.  The  Tarahu- 
mara  Indians,  the  fleetest  and  most  enduring 
runners  in  the  world,  are  strict  vegetarians. 


186      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

The  gorilla,  the  king  of  the  Congo  forests,  is  a 
nut-feeder.  Milo,  the  mighty  Greek,  was  a 
flesh-abstainer  as  was  also  Pythagoras,  the 
first  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  Seneca,  the 
noble  Roman  senator  and  Plutarch,  the  fam- 
ous biographer.  The  writer  has  excluded  meat 
from  his  bill  of  fare  for  more  than  fifty  years, 
and  has  within  the  last  forty  years,  supervised 
the  treatment  of  more  than  a  hundred  thou- 
sand sick  people  at  the  Battle  Creek  Sanitar- 
ium on  a  meatless  diet  and  superintended  the 
activities  of  a  family  of  workers  averaging  for 
many  years  more  than  1000,  who  are  also 
flesh-abstainers,  no  meat  being  served  at  the 
Sanitarium  to  either  patients  or  workers. 

Even  carnivorous  animals  flourish  on  a  diet 
of  nuts  with  other  vegetable  foods  and  cooked 
cereals.  The  Turks  mix  nuts  with  their  pilaff 
of  rice  and  the  Armenians  add  nuts  to  their 
boolghoor,  a  dish  prepared  from  wheat  which 
has  been  cooked  and  dried. 

With  the  addition  of  milk  or  eggs,  a  flesh- 
less  diet  is  not  only  absolutely  safe  and  suffi- 
cient but  in  every  way  superior  to  a  flesh  diet. 


NUTS  MAY  SAVE  THE  RACE  187 

Nuts  May  Save  the  Race 

In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  most  interesting 
to  know  that  in  nuts,  the  most  neglected  of  all 
well  known  food  products,  we  find  the  assur- 
ance of  an  ample  and  complete  food  supply 
for  all  future  time,  even  though  necessity 
should  compel  the  total  abandonment  of  our 
present  forms  of  animal  industry. 

One  of  the  great  advantages  of  the  nut  is 
that  with  few  exceptions,  it  may  be  eaten  di- 
rect from  the  hand  of  nature  without  culinary 
preparation  of  any  sort.  Indeed,  the  com- 
mon custom  in  offering  nuts  as  dessert  is  an 
acknowledgment  that  the  refined  chemistry 
of  nature's  laboratory  permits  of  no  improve- 
ment by  the  clumsy  methods  of  the  kitchen. 

The  Nut  is  a  Fruit  with  a  Shell 

In  the  process  of  ripening,  the  actinic  rays 
of  the  sun  digest  the  crude  starch  found  in  the 
green  fruit  and  convert  it  into  delicious  fats 
and  sugars  ready  for  prompt  utilization.  The 
protein  of  the  nut  resembles  the  casein  of  milk 
and  requires  no  cooking  to  render  it  readily 
digestible.  The  only  preparation  the  nut 
needs   is  thorough  mastication  to  insure  the 


188      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

prompt  admixture  and  action  of  the  diges- 
tive fluids.  Mastication  is  chiefly  a  mechani- 
cal process  and  may  be  very  largely  substi- 
tuted by  crushing  the  nut  into  a  paste  or  grind- 
ing it  into  a  fine  meal. 

More  than  fifty  years  ago  it  had  been 
demonstrated  that  flesh  foods  are  not  an  es- 
sential part  of  the  dietary  of  man.  Cuvier, 
the  great  French  naturalist  had  stated  that 
man's  natural  diet  was  the  same  as  that  of  the 
chimpanzee  and  the  orang-utan  and  consisted 
of  fruits,  nuts,  soft  grains  and  tender  shoots. 

The  evidence  of  the  scientific  accuracy  of 
Cuvier's  statement  was  so  conclusive  that  the 
writer  adopted  the  natural  diet  and  has  fol- 
lowed it  since.  This  journal,  during  this  time, 
has  very  earnestly  advocated  the  biologic  diet 
and  thousands  of  people  have  been  persuaded 
to  adopt  it. 

In  the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  more  than 
100,000  sick  people  besides  employees,  stu- 
dents, friends  of  patients  and  guests,  number- 
ing at  least  half  as  many  more  persons  have 
been  introduced  to  a  fleshless  bill  of  fare  often 
with  very  evident  and  very  great  benefit. 

In  this  institution  no  small  interest  has 
been  taken  in  nuts  as  a  part  of  nature's  scheme 


NUTS  MAY  SAVE  THE  RACE  189 

of  human  feeding,  and  a  conspicuous  place  has 
been  given  them  in  our  bill  of  fare.  During 
all  this  period  extensive  inquiries  have  been 
carried  on,  having  for  their  purpose  the  devel- 
opment of  the  nutritive  properties  of  all  sorts 
of  foodstuffs  and  many  thousands  of  experi- 
ments with  nuts  have  been  made  in  food  labor- 
atories. In  the  course  of  these  experiments 
the  simple  process  of  making  peanut  butter 
was  hit  upon  which  has  since  developed  into  a 
great  industry.  A  process  for  making  a  vege- 
table substitute  for  milk,  malted  nuts,  was 
also  perfected.  By  request  of  the  U.  S.  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  experiments  were 
carried  on  to  find  a  vegetable  substitute  for 
meat  which  resulted  in  the  production  of  pro- 
tose,  a  nut  preparation,  which  to  a  considerable 
degree,  resembles  meat  in  appearance,  taste 
and  odor,  having  a  slight  fibre  like  potted 
meat.  Some  hundreds  of  tons  of  these  nut 
foods  have  been  made  and  used  and  they  have 
proved  to  be  complete  nutritive  substitutes  for 
meat. 


190      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Nuts  a  Good  Food  foe  Nursing  Mothers 
AND  Infants 

The  increasing  incapacity  of  American 
mothers  to  provide  lacteal  nourishment  for 
their  infants  has  for  years  been  the  subject  of 
much  discussion  among  physicians  and  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  a  just  occasion  for 
alarm  as  an  evidence  of  race  degeneracy  and 
a  potent  cause  of  infant  mortality. 

Statistics  show  that  the  birth  rate  is  rapidly 
falling  in  the  United  States  as  well  as  in  all 
other  civilized  countries.  At  the  present  rate 
of  decline  no  babies  will  be  born  in  the  year 
2,000. 

The  American  woman  is  for  some  reason 
losing  the  capacity  for  motherhood.  It  seems 
that  the  maternal  fount  is  drying  up  and 
with  the  loss  of  capacity  for  feeding  her  off- 
spring, the  American  woman  is  losing  her  fe- 
cundity. The  ability  to  bear  and  to  feed  off- 
spring is  a  physiologic  unity.  With  failure  of 
one  function  there  is  a  corresponding  decline 
in  the  other. 


NUTS  MAY  SAVE  THE  RACE  191 

The  Blight  of  the  Baby  Crop 

There  are  born  in  this  country  every  year 
2,500,000  babies.  Of  these  300,000  die  before 
they  are  one  year  old.  The  mortality  of  bot- 
tle-fed infants  is  ten  to  twenty  times  as  great 
as  that  of  those  who  are  breast  fed.  In  other 
words,  the  failure  of  mothers  to  nurse  their  in- 
fants is  responsible  for  the  death  of  scores  of 
thousands  of  infants  annually.  Every  year 
we  lose  babies  enough  to  people  a  large  city 
because  they  are  not  supplied  with  their  nat- 
ural food,  breast  milk,  for  which  cow's  milk  is 
by  no  means  a  complete  substitute. 

A  matter  of  such  serious  moment  has  nat- 
urally received  no  small  amount  of  attention. 
We  have  a  national  society  devoted  to  the 
"Prevention  of  Infant  Mortality."  Numer- 
ous experts  have  devoted  much  time  to  the 
study  of  this  question.  Many  theories  and 
conjectures  have  been  presented,  but  few 
facts.  Dr.  Chalmers  Watson  of  Edinburgh, 
some  years  ago  made  extensive  feeding  experi- 
ments upon  rats  which  led  him  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  increased  consumption  of  meat 
was  the  potent  cause  of  the  failure  in  the  geni- 
tive power  of  the  British  race.    He  found  that 


192      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

a  meat  diet  caused  in  rats  within  two  or  three 
generations  marked  degeneration  of  the  sex- 
ual glands,  shriveling  of  the  breasts  and  ster- 
ility. This  eminent  physiologist  noted  that  in 
the  British  Islands  the  decline  of  the  birth 
rate  had  been  simultaneous  with  the  marked 
increase  in  the  consumption  of  meat  within 
the  last  fifty  years. 

Recently,  additional  light  has  been  thrown 
upon  this  subject  which  is  of  special  interest  to 
those  who  are  concerned  with  dietetics. 

Interesting  Experiments 

At  the  Detroit,  Michigan,  Woman's  Hos- 
pital and  Infants'  Home  there  has  recently 
been  conducted  by  Dr.  Hoobler  an  extensive 
series  of  experiments  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
termining the  influence  of  diet  upon  the  milk 
production  of  a  nursing  mother.  It  has  long 
been  known  that  a  simple  increase  of  food  or 
of  fat  has  no  other  effect  than  to  make  the 
mother  fat  without  increasing  the  flow  of 
milk.  Dr.  Hoobler's  experiments  had  for 
their  purpose  to  determine  the  influence  of 
individual  foods  and  specially  arranged  dietar- 
ies upon  the  production  of  milk.  Studies  were 
made  of  the  effects  of  meat,  eggs,  cow's  milk,  a 


NUTS  MAY  SAVE  THE  RACE  193 

strictly  vegetable  dietary   (fruits,  grains  and 
vegetables),  and  nuts. 

The  influence  of  the  diet  was  judged  by 
the  following  points: 

1.  The  amount  of  milk  produced. 

2.  The  food  value  of  the  milk. 

3.  The  effect  upon  the  mother  as  regards 
loss  or  gain  of  flesh. 

It  was  found  that  a  diet  consisting  largely 
of  nuts  (fifty  per  cent.)  was  far  superior  to 
any  other  dietary  and  in  every  particular. 
The  amount  of  milk  was  larger  than  the  av- 
erage (14.8%),  the  food  value  was  greater 
(30%),  and  the  mother  did  better.  It  was 
noted  that  the  mothers  "took  the  diet  readily 
and  in  fact  enjoyed  it."  (Jour.  Am.  Med. 
Assn.  Aug.  12,  1917.) 

The  experimenter  explicitly  states  in  his 
report  before  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion (June,  1917),  that  "nut  protein  seems 
in  every  way  as  suitable  for  elaborating  milk 
protein  as  does  animal  protein."  This  is  an 
exceedingly  important  observation  for  it  dem- 
onstrates two  very  interesting  and  basic  facts : 

1.  That  animal  protein  may  be  wholly  dis- 
pensed with;  that  is,  that  a  diet  from  which 
meat,  milk  and  eggs  are  wholly  excluded  is 


194      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

capable  of  affording  adequate  nourishment 
even  for  a  nursing  mother. 

2.  That  nuts  are  necessary  to  give  com- 
pleteness to  a  diet  from  which  milk,  meat  and 
eggs  are  excluded. 

The  special  method  of  research  adopted 
by  Dr.  Hoobler  provides  a  most  delicate  bio- 
logic test  for  the  nutrient  value  of  a  food.  The 
test  shows  the  nut  to  be  superior  to  meat,  milk 
or  eggs  or  all  of  these  foods  together  in  pro- 
ducing the  highest  degree  of  nutritive  efficien- 
cy. It  has  heretofore  been  claimed  that  the 
body  can  make  body  protein  more  easily  out 
of  the  protein  of  meat,  milk,  or  eggs,  that  is, 
animal  protein  of  some  sort,  than  from  vege- 
table protein.  It  now  appears  that  this  is  not 
true.  Nut  protein  is  the  best  of  all  sources 
upon  which  the  body  may  draw  for  its  sup- 
plies of  tissue  building  and  repairing  material. 


NUTS  MAY  SAVE  THE  RACE  195 

Low  Comparative  Cost  of  Nuts 

The  high  price  of  nuts  is  constantly  urged 
as  an  objection  to  their  use  as  a  staple.  It  is 
probable  that  a  largely  increased  demand 
would  lead  to  so  great  an  increase  in  the  sup- 
ply that  the  cost  of  production,  and  hence  the 
cost  to  the  consumer,  would  be  decreased. 
But  even  at  the  present  prices  the  choicest  va- 
rieties of  nuts  are  cheaper  than  meats  if  equiv- 
alent food  values  are  compared.  This  is  clear- 
ly shown  by  the  following  table  which  indi- 
cates the  amounts  of  various  flesh  foods  which 
are  equivalent  to  one  pound  of  walnut  meats. 

One  pound  of  walnut  meats  equals  in  food 
value  each  of  the  following: 

Founds 

Beef  loin,  lean 4.00 

Beef  ribs,  lean 6.50 

Beef  neck,  lean 9.50 

Veal 5.50 

Mutton  leg,  lean 4.20 

Ham,  lean 3.00 

Fowls   4.00 

Chicken,  broilers 10.00 

Red  Bass 25.00 

Trout   4.80 

Frogs'  legs 15.00 

Oysters 13.50 


196      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Pounds 

Lobsters  22.00 

Eggs  5.00 

Milk 9.50 

Evaporated  cream 4.00 

But  the  great  economic  importance  of  the 
encouragement  of  nut  culture  in  every  civil- 
ized land  is  best  shown  by  comparing  the 
amount  of  food  which  may  be  annually  pro- 
duced by  an  acre  of  land  planted  to  nut  trees 
and  the  same  area  devoted  to  the  production 
of  beef.  The  writer  is  credibly  informed  that 
two  acres  of  land  and  two  years  are  required 
to  produce  a  steer  weighing  600  pounds.  The 
product  of  one  acre  for  one  year  would  be  one- 
fourth  as  much,  or  150  pounds  of  steer.  The 
same  land  planted  to  walnut  trees  would  pro- 
duce, if  I  am  correctly  informed,  an  average 
of  at  least  100  pounds  per  tree  per  annum 
for  the  first  twenty  years.  Forty  trees  to  the 
acre  would  aggregate  4,000  pounds  of  nuts, 
or  1,000  pounds  of  walnut  meats.  The  high- 
est food  value  which  could  be  ascribed  to  the 
150  pounds  of  beef  would  be  150,000  calories 
or  food  units.  The  food  value  of  the  nut 
meats  would  be  3,000,000  calories,  or  twenty 
times  as  much  food  from  the  nut  trees  as  from 


NUTS  MAY  SAVE  THE  RACE  197 

the  fattened  steer,  and  food  of  the  same  gen- 
eral character,  that  is  protein  and  fat,  but  of 
greatly  superior  quality. 

One  acre  of  walnut  trees,  40  trees  to  the 
acre,  will  produce  every  year  food  equal  to  any 
one  of  the  following  items : 

20,000  lbs.  brook  trout 

5,000  lbs.  beef  (eight  steers) 
16,000  lbs.  chicken  broilers 
34,000  lbs.  lobsters 
30,000  lbs.  oysters 
66,000  eggs   (5,000  dozen) 
7,000  qts.  milk 
A  ton  of  mutton  (13  sheep) 
250,000  frogs. 
And  when  one  acre  will  do  so  much,  think 
of  the  product  of  a  million  acres. 

Ten  times  the  product  of  all  the  fisheries 
of  the  country. 

Half  as  much  as  all  the  poultry  of  the 
country. 

One-seventh  as  much  as  all  the  beef  pro- 
duced. 

More  than  twice  the  value  of  all  the  sheep. 
Half  as  much  as  all  the  pork. 
And  many  millions  of  acres  may  be  thus 
utilized  in  nut  culture. 


198      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

And  the  walnut  is  not  the  only  promising 
tree.  The  hickory,  the  pecan,  the  butternut, 
the  filbert,  and  the  pinon  are  all  capable  of 
producing  equal  or  greater  results. 

A  single  acre  of  nut  trees  will  produce  pro- 
tein enough  to  feed  four  persons  a  year  and 
fat  enough  for  twice  that  number  of  average 
persons.  So  25,000,000  acres  of  nut  trees 
would  more  than  supply  the  whole  people  of 
the  United  States  with  their  two  most  expen- 
sive foodstuffs.  Cereals  and  fresh  vegetables, 
our  cheapest  foods,  would  be  needed  for  the 
carbohydrate  portion  of  the  dietary.  Just 
think  of  it.  A  little  nut  orchard  200  miles 
square  supplying  one-third  enough  food  to 
feed  one  hundred  million  of  citizens.  The 
trouble  is  the  hogs  and  cattle  are  eating  up 
our  food  supplies.  We  feed  a  steer  100 
pounds  of  food  and  get  back  only  2.8  pounds. 
If  we  plant  10  pounds  of  corn  we  get  back 
500  pounds.  If  we  plant  one  walnut  we  get 
back  in  twenty  harvests  a  ton  of  choicest  food. 
In  nut  culture  there  is  a  treasury  of  wealth 
and  health  and  national  prosperity  and  safety 
that  is  at  present  little  appreciated. 

Here  is  a  veritable  treasury  of  wealth,  a 
potential  food  supply   which   may   save   the 


NUTS  MAY  SAVE  THE  RACE  199 

world  from  any  suggestion  of  hunger  for  cen- 
turies to  come  if  properly  utilized. 

Every  man  who  cuts  down  a  timber  tree 
should  be  required  to  plant  a  nut  tree.  A  nut 
tree  has  a  double  value.  It  produces  valuable 
timber  and  yields  every  year  a  rich  harvest  of 
food  while  it  is  growing. 

Every  highway  should  be  lined  with  nut 
trees.  Nut  trees  will  grow  on  land  on  which 
no  other  crop  will  grow  and  which  is  even 
worthless  for  grazing.  The  pinon  flourishes 
on  the  bleak  and  barren  peaks  of  the  rockies. 

The  nut  should  no  longer  be  considered  a 
table  luxury.  It  should  become  a  staple  ar- 
ticle of  food  and  may  most  profitably  replace 
the  pork  and  meats  of  various  sorts  which  are 
inferior  foods  and  are  recognized  as  prolific 
sources  of  disease. 

Ten  nut  trees  planted  for  each  inhabitant 
will  insure  the  country  against  any  possibility 
of  food  shortage.  A  row  of  nut  trees  on  each 
side  of  our  3,000,000  miles  of  country  roads 
will  provide  protein  for  a  population  of  100,- 
000,000.  With  a  vanishing  animal  industry, 
nut-culture  offers  the  only  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion of  food  supply.  As  the  late  Prof.  Virchow 
said,  "The  future  is  with  the  vegetarians." 


200      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Something  Must  Be  Done 

When  one  contemplates  the  fact  that  the 
meat  supply  of  the  world  is  rapidly  diminish- 
ing, and  realizes  that  there  is  no  probability 
that  the  diminished  supply  of  animal  food- 
stuffs will  ever  be  materially  increased  but 
rather  will  steadily  diminish,  the  importance 
of  encouraging  nut-culture  will  be  appreciated. 
The  human  body  must  have  for  its  perfect  nu- 
trition and  maintenance,  special  proteins  which 
appear  to  be  found  only  in  animal  foods  and 
nuts.  To  nuts,  then,  we  must  look  for  the 
future  sustenance  of  the  race.  At  least  nuts 
must  be  used  as  a  supplement  to  other  vege- 
table foods,  and  in  increasing  quantity  as  the 
meat  supply  decreases. 

It  is  certainly  high  time  that  governments, 
state  and  national,  were  giving  attention  to 
this  highly  important  question.  Millions  of 
nut  trees  should  be  planted  on  public  lands, 
along  railroads  and  highways,  in  mountain 
regions  and  other  waste  places  which  have 
been  denuded  of  their  primitive  forest  growths. 
Nut  pines,  of  which,  according  to  Dr.  Morris, 
there  are  thirty  different  species  adapted  to 
all  conditions  of  climate  and  soil,  black  wal- 


NUTS   MAY   SAVE   THE    RACE  201 

nuts  and  hickories  in  the  north,  and  in  the 
south  pecans  and  other  subtropical  nut  trees, 
should  be  planted  on  an  extensive  scale.  In 
the  near  future  vast  forests  of  these  precious 
food-producing  trees  will  be  needed  to  supply 
the  nutriment  required  by  teeming  millions  of 
hungry  people  in  this  country  and  Europe. 

Every  farmer  should  prepare  to  plant  a 
few  acres  of  nut  orchard  next  spring.  There 
are  millions  of  second  growth  hickories  of  the 
pignut  and  other  worthless  varieties  growing 
in  pastures  and  by  the  roadside  which  by  graft- 
ing with  shagbark  cuttings  may  become  pro- 
lific producers  of  one  of  the  best  of  nuts. 

Nut  growing  is  certainly  destined  to  be- 
come one  of  the  most  important  of  our  agri- 
cultural industries.  Half  a  century  hence  the 
nut  crop  will  far  exceed  in  volume  and  in  value 
our  present  animal  industry. 

If  the  U.  S.  Government  will  secure  the 
planting  of  ten  nut  trees  for  each  of  its  100,- 
000,000  inhabitants,  all  the  pastures  may  be 
converted  into  corn  or  wheat  fields  and  all  the 
packing  houses  into  factories  and  the  flocks 
of  sheep  and  herds  of  swine  and  cattle  may 
disappear,  and  yet  no  one  will  suffer  from  pro- 
tein starvation. 


202      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

Twenty  million  acres  of  land  in  walnut  trees 
would  suffice  to  furnish  daily  one-fourth  of  a 
pound  of  protein  and  half  a  pound  of  fat,  the 
equivalent  of  a  pound  of  beefsteak,  and  more 
than  half  a  pound  of  butter  for  every  man, 
woman  and  child  in  the  republic.  To  what 
better  use  could  we  put  our  roadsides  and  a 
small  slice  of  our  public  lands  of  which  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  acres  are  lying  waste  and 
idle?  And  lands  not  fit  for  other  purposes 
might  be  used  for  some  species  of  nut  trees. 

Nuts  should  be  eaten  at  every  meal  and 
made  a  substantial  part  of  the  bill  of  fare.  So 
long  as  the  nut  is  regarded  as  a  dainty,  suit- 
ble  only  for  dessert  the  demand  will  be  limited. 
But  as  its  merits  come  to  be  appreciated  it  will 
be  in  greater  demand  and  the  industry  will 
rapidly  grow  in  volume.  It  is  important,  how- 
ever, that  the  public  should  be  educated  to 
look  upon  this  choicest  of  all  nature's  products 
as  a  staple  food  and  should  give  to  it  its  proper 
place  in  the  national  bill  of  fare. 

The  nut  is  the  choicest  aggregation  of  the 
materials  essential  for  the  building  of  sound 
human  tissues,  done  up  in  a  hermetically  sealed 
package  ready  to  be  delivered  by  the  gracious 
hand  of  Nature  to  those   who   are   fortunate 


NUTS   MAY   SAVE   THE   RACE  203 

enough  to  appreciate  the  value  of  this  finest 
of  earth's  bounties. 

The  Best  Nuts 

The  family  of  edible  nuts  is  small  com- 
pared with  the  great  variety  of  luscious  fruits 
which  abound  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

In  this  country,  something  more  than  a 
dozen  excellent  nuts  offer,  however,  a  sufficient 
variety  to  satisfy  gustatory  needs. 

With  two  or  three  exceptions,  nuts  are  rich 
in  fat  and  protein  and  low  in  carbohydrates, 
whereas  fruits,  almost  without  exception,  con- 
sist chiefly  of  carbohydrates,  containing  very 
little  protein  and  almost  no  fats.  Carbohy- 
drates in  nuts  exist  almost  wholly  in  the  form 
of  sugar  and  dextrine,  whereas  in  fruits  we 
find,  in  addition,  several  varieties  of  acids. 

Nuts  are  the  most  highly  nourishing  of  all 
foodstuffs.  With  the  exception  of  the  chest- 
nut, the  peanut,  and  the  litchi  nut,  the  aver- 
age nutritive  value  of  nuts  in  general  is  about 
200  calories  to  the  ounce,  or  double  the  value 
of  an  equal  quantity  of  starch  or  sugar. 

Of  the  nuts  which  grow  in  this  country,  the 
most  important  are  the  almond,  the  English 
walnut,  the  pecan  and  the  peanut.    The  native 


204      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

black  walnut,  the  hickory  nut,  the  piiion,  the 
hazelnut,  and  the  beech-nut  are  all  valuable 
nuts  which,  by  cultivation,  might  furnish  enor- 
mous additions  to  our  food-  supply.  This  is 
particularly  true  of  the  black  walnut. 

Among  the  imported  nuts,  the  most  im- 
portant are  the  Brazil  nut,  the  cocoanut,  the 
pistachio,  and  the  recently  introduced  litchi 
nut. 

The  Almond 

This  delicious  nut  may  be  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  list  as  perhaps  the  finest  of  all  the 
members  of  the  nut  family.  One-fifth  the 
weight  of  the  almond  consists  of  protein  of 
the  very  finest  quality,  a  larger  proportion  of 
this  food  element  than  is  found  in  the  best 
beefsteak,  and  it  may  be  added  that  meat  is  in 
other  respects  inferior. 

Besides,  the  almond  affords  more  than  half 
its  weight  of  a  most  delicious  and  highly  di- 
gestible oil,  together  with  about  one-sixth  its 
weight  of  sugar,  sufficient  to  give  to  it  the 
characteristic  property  which  gave  rise  to  the 
ancient  eulogistic  phrase,  "as  sweet  as  a  nut." 
Besides  these  rich  properties,  the  almond  con- 
tains a  peculiar  substance,  emulsin,  by  the  aid 
of  which  it  is  possible  to  prepare  from  blanched 


NUTS   MAY   SAVE   THE    RACE  205 

and  crushed  almonds,  with  the  addition  of 
water,  a  most  dehcious  milk  or  cream,  which, 
with  the  addition  of  a  little  sugar,  very  closely 
resembles,  not  only  in  appearance  but  also  in 
nutritive  properties,  modified  cows'  milk. 

The  almond  has  the  advantage  over  many 
other  nuts  in  the  fact  that  the  astringent,  leath- 
ery skin  with  which  it  is  covered,  may  be  eas- 
ily removed  by  the  simple  process  of  blanching. 

An  ounce  of  almonds  blanched  and  slight- 
ly roasted,  or  crushed  and  served  as  a  nut 
butter,  is  a  most  wholesome  addition  to  any 
meal,  and  may  be  used  once  or  twice  a  day 
with  advantage. 

The  Hickory  Nut  and  the  Pecan 

The  meat  of  the  shellbark  hickory  nut  is 
a  most  delicious  morsel.  It  is  richer  in  fat  than 
any  other  nut  with  the  exception  of  the  pecan, 
a  variety  of  the  hickory  which  contains  two- 
thirds  its  weight  of  easily  digestible  oil,  with 
15  per  cent  protein  and  11  per  cent  carbohy- 
drate. A  pound  of  hickory  nut  meats  is  equal 
in  nutritive  value  to  more  than  4  pounds  of 
average  meat.  The  pecan  contains  4  per  cent 
more  fat  and  4  per  cent  less  protein.  In  food 
value,  a  pound  of  pecan  meats  exceeds  the 


206      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

hickory  nut  in  food  value  by  200  calories,  and 
it  is  the  most  highly  nutritious  of  all  the  na- 
tural products  of  the  vegetable  kingdom.  In 
fact,  with  the  exception  of  pure  fat  or  oil, 
there  is  no  food  substance  which  offers  nutri- 
tive material  in  so  concentrated  a  form. 

The  Walnut 

The  native  black  walnut  and  its  cousin,  the 
butternut,  are  among  the  finest  food  produc- 
ing trees  indigenous  to  this  country.  The  fat 
of  walnut  meats  is  nearly  three-fifths,  and 
the  protein  content  is  nearly  28  per  cent,  giv- 
ing a  nutritive  value  three  times  that  of  fat 
meat.  A  pound  of  walnuts,  in  fact,  contains 
nearly  50  per  cent  more  protein  than  the  same 
quantity  of  beef,  and  two-thirds  as  much  fat 
as  a  pound  of  butter.  The  butternut  contains 
a  little  more  fat  than  the  walnut,  with  the 
same  amount  of  protein,  but  barely  3  per  cent 
of  carbohydrate,  less  than  that  of  any  other 
nut,  a  fact  which  renders  the  butternut  es- 
pecially valuable  for  persons  suffering  with 
diabetes. 

The  English  walnut  differs  from  the  black 
walnut  in  containing  a  little  more  fat  and  less 
than  two-thirds  the  amount  of  protein.    It  is 


NUTS   MAY   SAVE   THE    RACE  207 

also  slightly  richer  in  carbohydrates.  The 
culture  of  the  English  walnut  is  rapidly  ex- 
tending in  California  and  recently  some  vari- 
eties have  been  produced  which  have  prover 
hardy  in  our  northern  and  western  States,  so 
there  appears  to  be  no  reason  why  the  English 
or  Persian  walnut  may  not  be  made  to  grow 
almost  anywhere  its  black  cousin  flourishes. 

The  black  walnut  is  certainly  worthy  of 
much  more  attention  than  it  has  received.  The 
difficulty  of  removing  the  meat  from  the  thick 
shell  may  be  overcome  by  grafting  ordinary 
stock  with  the  newly  produced  thin-shelled 
varieties.  It  is  claimed  that  a  walnut  tree  10 
years  old  will  produce  annually  100  pounds 
of  nuts  from  which  40  pounds  of  meats  may 
be  obtained. 

Pine  Nuts. — The  pine  nut  is  a  seed  pro- 
duced in  the  cones  of  certain  species  of  pine. 
More  than  thirty  different  varieties  are  known, 
varying  in  size  from  that  of  a  lentil  to  a  horse 
chestnut. 

The  Pinon,  which  grows  in  the  western 
Rockies  and  the  foothills  of  California,  is  a 
most  delicious  nut.  In  composition  it  is  more 
than  three-fifths  fat  and  contains  about  two- 
thirds  as  much   protein   as   the   almond.    As 


208      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

found  in  the  market,  shelled  piiions  are  dirty 
and  quite  unattractive  in  appearance,  but  the 
nut  meats  may  be  easily  cleansed  by  washing 
first  with  ordinary  water  then  with  water  con- 
taining half  of  one  per  cent  of  peroxide  of  hy- 
drogen. This  will  not  only  cleanse  but  disin- 
fect the  nuts,  destroying  germs  of  any  sort 
with  which  the  kernels  may  have  become  in- 
fected in  their  peregrinations  from  the  distant 
forest  to  the  dinner  table.  The  nut  meats  may 
be  quickly  dried  by  exposure  to  the  heat  of 
an  oven.  The  flavor  of  the  nuts  is  improved 
by  very  slight  roasting. 

The  Peanut,  when  well  dried,  contains 
50%  more  protein  than  the  best  beefsteak  be- 
sides half  its  weight  of  an  excellent  oil. 

Slightly  roasted  in  the  shell,  the  nut  is  very 
wholesome.  The  salted,  roasted  peanuts,  how- 
ever, found  in  the  market,  are  often  over- 
roasted, and  on  this  account  rather  indigestible. 
In  the  form  of  peanut  butter,  first  prepared  by 
the  writer  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  the  peanut 
has  come  to  be  used  more  extensively,  per- 
haps, than  any  other  nut.  When  properly 
prepared,  peanut  butter  is  easily  digestible 
and  highly  nutritious.  Unfortunately,  many 
manufacturers  increase  their  profits  by  using 


NUTS   MAY   SAVE   THE    RACE  209 

inferior  and  imperfect  nuts.  Through  lack 
of  care  in  roasting  a  certain  proportion  of  the 
nuts  are  burned.  The  high  temperature  to 
which  the  fat  is  exposed  produces  irritating 
decomposition  products  which  disturb  diges- 
tion. 

Instead  of  roasting  the  nuts  in  ordinary- 
coffee  roasters,  the  usual  method,  they  should 
be  treated  by  steam  heat  only,  thus  avoiding 
a  temperature  high  enough  to  decompose  the 
fats.  Prepared  in  this  way,  nut  butter  is 
wholesome  as  well  as  palatable  and  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  diet. 

The  protein  of  the  peanut  has  been  shown 
by  chemical  research  to  belong  to  the  class  of 
complete  proteins,  which  renders  it  equal  to 
the  protein  of  eggs  and  milk  as  a  tissue-build- 
ing element. 

Peanuts  are  now  largely  used  in  the  pro- 
duction of  Malted  Nuts,  a  substitute  for  milk, 
and  Protose,  a  vegetable  meat. 

The  Litchi  Nut. — This  nut,  a  native  of 
China,  which  has  recently  been  introduced  in- 
to this  country,  is  a  most  valuable  product.  It 
is  grown  in  China  and  Honolulu,  and  attempts 
have  been  made  through  the  efforts  of  Mr. 
David  Fairchild,  of  the  Agricultural  Depart- 


210      THE  ITINERARY  OF  A  BREAKFAST 

ment,  to  introduce  the  cultivation  of  the  nut 
in  California.  The  nuts  obtainable  in  our 
market  come  from  China.  The  characteristic 
feature  of  the  nut  is  the  fact  that  it  contains 
practically  no  fat,  only  a  trace  of  protein,  and 
nearly  four-fifths  its  weight  of  carbohydrate 
in  the  form  of  fruit  sugar,  similar  to  the  sugar 
of  honey.  It  is  most  delicious  in  flavor  and 
supplies  the  elements  generally  present  only 
in  very  small  proportion  in  other  nuts. 

The  Cocoanut  is  so  well  known  and  so 
widely  used  in  confections  and  otherwise,  that 
scarcely  anything  need  be  said  in  its  behalf.  It 
should  be  mentioned,  however,  that  a  most 
excellent  substitute  for  butter  may  be  pre- 
pared from  fresh  cocoanuts  by  cutting  the 
meat  of  the  nut  into  strips  and  crushing  in  a 
meat  grinder,  then  soaking  the  mass  for  two  or 
three  hours  in  several  times  its  bulk  of  warm 
water.  A  rich  cream  will  rise  to  the  top.  This 
is  skimmed  off  and  worked  into  a  butter-like 
mass  with  an  ordinary  butter  ladle.  Butter 
prepared  in  this  way  is  much  used  by  Euro- 
peans in  tropical  countries. 


DATE  DUE 

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